Chick Pea Rice Soup

Every once in a great while you find yourself with leftover rice in the fridge but no craving for a stir-fry. What is one to do?! Why create a soup, of course! Most of my recipes are born out of random ingredients laying around in my fridge, like half a can of tomato paste, a handful of fresh herbs, a glass of wine (the sin!) or in this case, leftover cooked rice. I looked around and saw the leftover rice, some cooked chick peas, a small can of tomato sauce and the squeaky wheels started turning in my head. I happened to be in Puerto Rico at the time and had access to my favorite herb on the planet, culantro (known as recao in Puerto Rico). Though different than its Puerto Rican incarnation, culantro is more fragrant that cilantro, with a pungent aroma and taste. I was able to locate some at a Vietnamese market in Portland since some people use it for pho. I assure you the search is worth it. You can substitute cilantro in this recipe if culantro is not available.

Culantro
 

Chick Pea Rice Soup

2 tbsp of olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1/2 bulb of garlic, minced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 tsp salt 
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
7 oz can spicy or plain tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups cooked chick peas
1 3/4 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
large handful chopped culantro
Fresh ground pepper and sea salt, to taste

1. Warm olive oil in a soup pot. Add onions, celery and salt. Stir and cook until fragrant. Add garlic and cook for an additional two minutes.  Splash 1/2 cup of water or vegetable stock in pot to deglaze vegetables.
2. Add remaining water or vegetable stock and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Add chick peas and reduce heat. Simmer until broth is fragrant and flavors are combined.
3. Add rice and corn. Cook for an additional five minutes then add fresh culantro. Turn off heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Servings: 4-6 bowls

16 comments:

janessa said...

I want to eat your soup.

Sunny said...

I used to grow my own culantro. In miami, it grows wild in everyone's yard. A friend gave me a clipping & I started a mother plant. It quickly turned into a garden of baby culantro plants. It is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE herb in the world. My ex husband killed my plant & so I am left without one but some day I will have another mother plant! I'm happy to know someone else who loves this herb as much as I do and appreciates its pungent flavor!

Amey said...

hey spicy vegan! I finally got a chance to come check out your blog again... it's been a while. This post is well-timed because I recently made a soup that called for culantro, and had to use cilantro instead. It was my first time ever hearing of culantro. Now I am very curious indeed. I wonder where I could get some, or grow some like Sunny!!!

The Spicy Vegan said...

Hey Amey!

I found culantro at a Vietnamese market in town. I believe it's quite popular at most Asian markets. It was labeled as "Vietnamese Parsley" and then in smaller print it said "ngò gai", which is the Vietnamese name. If you follow the Wikipedia link I posted above you'll see the many names this herb goes by. It is seriously one of my favorite herbs on the planet, I use it in anything I would boldly use cilantro, like lentils and rice or a stir fry. I haven't tried making salsa yet but it's on my list! Let me know if you find it and get a chance to make this soup or anything with it!

Sunny, thanks for the comment! I would KILL for a culantro plant! Do you think it can grown in a pot in a kitchen? I don't have a yard. :(

MeloMeals said...

I can't believe I have never had Culantro. That is soooo not right. I'm on a mission to find some.

The Mistress of Spices said...

Fascinating! I've NEVER heard of culantro. I seriously doubt that I could find that here in France...too bad!

Rawsome Healthy said...

Your information is really good. Keep it up buddy. Thanks for sharing it with us and keep posting all the good stuffs.
Thanks.

raw fruit diet

Bisnis Investasi said...

Crispy Chilli Chicken |
Steamed Stuffed Chillies |
Spicy Pickled Vegetables |
Bean Sprout Rolls With Spicy Sauce |
Spicy Pickled Radish |
Braised Carp With Hot Bean Paste |
Chicken Curry |
Fish Fillet Curry |
Spicy Sesame Chicken |
Beef Curry |
Hot And Sour Papaya Slices |
Spicy Fried Cuttlefish |
Crispy Fried Prawns |
Stir-fried Spicy Chicken |
Stuffed Pickled Cucumber |
Chicken In Chilli Oil |
Spicy Bean Sprouts |
Black Pepper Spare-ribs |
Stir-fried Beef With Chillies |
Pickled Winter Cabbage |

Billy. said...

Your work here on this blog has been decision from day 1. You've been continously giving surprising articles to every one of us to examine and I essentially assume that you prop it up on later on as well. Here's to you!


công ty s?n xu?t tvc qu?ng cáo

Abubakar said...

stunning, there is a long way to go here. On account of
just for sharing the articles.Ireland English language

Abubakar said...

i like your thoughts that you describe in your post
frases em ingles

Unknown said...

Very good post amazing content i bookmarked you site for upcoming amazing posts.

pot

Unknown said...

thanks for this post very interesting content
japanese rice hat

Billy. said...

Magnificent design and great utilization of fluctuated media. Truly inside and out data also. Extremely like how you separate the points into a few subsections with their own pages.


iPhone x case

Billy. said...

Magnificent design and great utilization of fluctuated media.


samsung galaxy cases

Unknown said...

Accountants Hove
i get solution of a problem after reading this artical thanksssss

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Followers