5 To Thrive's Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Soup

This hearty, warming and spicy soup is absolutely packed with goodness and works really well as an easy, low fat and low G.I. supper to cheer you up on a cold, drizzly winter’s day. Chickpeas are a great source of minerals and fibre and they provide a virtually fat-free source of protein, the fresh ginger is fantastic to include in your diet as an anti-inflammatory and of course, spinach, is just brimming with nutrients including iron and vitamin C; it pays to heed the famous words of my hero Mr Popeye:

“I’m strong to the finish, ’cause I eats me spinach”

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 2 sweet potatoes, or 1 large one, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 2 x garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cm chunk root ginger, sliced very finely or grated
• 1 litre vegetable or chicken stock
• 200g fresh, tender spinach leaves
• 1 x 400g can chickpeas
• 2 x tomatoes or 100ml passata
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry fried for one minute and crushed in a pestle and mortar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp honey
• ¼ tsp English mustard powder
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion for a few minutes.
2. Add the sweet potato, the garlic and the ginger and fry for a further minute or two. Add the cumin, cinnamon and cayenne and mustard powder and cook for 30 seconds, gently stirring the mixture all the time.
3. Stir in the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the honey and cook for two minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Stir in the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender.
5. Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper.
6. Pour back into the saucepan, stir in the spinach leaves and cook for a further minute or two until the spinach is wilted.
7. Serve in warmed soup bowls with some warm, crusty wholemeal bread.