Lemon, Orzo & Chickpea Soup

I've been meaning to make this soup all week and haven't had the chance.  Tonight was the perfect excuse as it is bitter cold here in Boston, setting records actually.  In fact, tomorrow they cancelled schools in the area due to the cold.  That doesn't happen too often!  I also woke up this morning with a touch of a sore throat and earache.  So yeah, I was in need of some soup.  Plus, lemon of course is packed full of vitamin C so this was the perfect recipe.  All in, maybe it took me 45 min. from start to finish even with the slicing and dicing.  Not bad.  I feel like a lot of soups take me a long time because there are so many vegetables to work with.

Also, as I've mentioned before, I really try to limit my animal product intake, so this is a great spin on the traditional Lemon, Chicken & Orzo soup!

Ingredients:

- 1 onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, halved and sliced
- 3 celery sticks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup water (optional)
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 small sprig rosemary
- 1 cup orzo
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 fresh squeezed lemon

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil over low - medium heat, add carrots celery, onions until soft (a few mins).  Then add the garlic, cook for another few minutes.

2. Add thyme, pinch of salt and pepper and mix in.

3. Add vegetable broth and water, bring to a boil.

4. Add in chickpeas, orzo, rosemary and bay leaf and cook for 10 minutes until orzo is cooked through.

5. Reduce heat to low and stir in lemon juice.

Recipe from delishknowledge.com

Great, easy week night recipe!  I plan on using the leftovers for lunch the next few days.

Enjoy and be sure to eat real food!

Love, Lizzie