Chickpea Veggie Soup

I was going to try to post something clever and witty tonight, but I guess today was one of those days where I apparently used up all my wit and sass at work with students (gotta love those high school students), so I guess you will be stuck reading a boring old post that talks about how good this soup is. But really....how boring can reading about food be? It cant be!! Reading about, cooking, or trying food is to me what walking through Lowe's is to my husband. I don't quite get it, but he can stare at tools all day long. Me? I'm looking at the tools and thinking "oh I could use that to make some kind of fun thing in my kitchen." You think I'm kidding? That is how my brain works. I see something and I instantly try to figure out how I could work it into my kitchen or a recipe etc!
Oh back to the soup...sorry I lost track. But I guess now it's not a boring old post haha! 

It shouldn't even be called soup. It should be called "a bowl of healthy." There are so many reasons that this soup is healthy and yummy, but I won't bore you with them all. It felt so good to eat such a wonderfully healthy dinner. Now if I can just keep from going to the freezer and digging into the ice cream that is calling out my name!!

The original recipe can be found here:
http://www.ediblexperiments.blogspot.com/2012/02/chickpea-veggie-soup-with-smoked.html

I really only added a couple of little things (jalapeno and oregano) to this recipe to change it. Amy Jo over at www.ediblexperiments.blogspot.com did a fantastic job with this soup already, so not a lot of changes needed to be made for my liking!

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 cans (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3 large red potatoes, chopped into bite size chunks
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (take out the seeds if you do not want the spice)
4 cups hot water
4 chicken bullion cubes (or 4 tsp of bullion powder)
1 zucchini, chopped into bite size chunks
1/4 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges


In a large pot, heat up the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and the sugar. Stir occasionally. When the onions are soft, add the garlic, paprika, ginger, cumin and oregano. Give it a quick stir. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garbanzo beans, potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno, hot water, and chicken bullion. Bring to a simmer, cover, and let simmer until the potatoes are tender. This should take about  20 minutes. Add the zucchini and let simmer for another 5 or 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Taste and add salt, pepper, and more paprika as needed. Serve with lemon wedges. Squeezing the lemon into your soup makes it extra yummy!