Going gluten-free is an opportunity to experiment with interesting ways to eat in a healthy way.  In other words, don’t think about what you can’t have, think about how to make tasty what you can have.

When I visited my aunt this past week, she gave me her old copies of  Vegetarian Times and Living Without magazines where I found a gluten-free soup recipe that sounded good, but I wanted to make changes to suit us. I made so many changes that it’s actually a new recipe. The great thing about this soup is that you can eat it hot or cold. As regular readers already know, I just throw ingredients together according to what I think will taste good.  This recipe serves about 8 and is a delicious leftover.  It passed the husband test, too.

Barb’s Spicy Vegetable and Garbanzo Bean Soup

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 cloves of garlic – or get a small jar of minced garlic and decide how much you want to put in the soup

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 ribs of celery, chopped

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

3 ribs of bok choy, chopped

1/2 bag of fresh spinach or clip it from the plants in your garden

1 zucchini, chopped into bite-size pieces

2 cups of low sodium beef broth (you can use vegetable or chicken broth if you want – just make sure it’s gluten-free and be aware that changing the broth type changes the taste of the soup)

1 large can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)

1 can of garbanzo beans (if you don’t want to use these, go for another kind your family will like)

1 or 2 dollops of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 cup torn fresh basil

1.  Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Throw in the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté until the garlic is fragrant.

2.  Add broth, crushed tomatoes, garbanzos and vinegar.

3.  Add rosemary, thyme, and basil

4.  Add all the veggies you chopped and sliced  and stir.

5.  If you want to thicken the mix, scoop 1 cup of the mixture into a blender or food processor and purée until smooth.  Stir it into the soup and season with salt and pepper if you like.

6.  Add the spinach leaves and stir.  Then simmer covered for about 40 minutes until the veggies are tender.

If you don’t like the spiciness of red pepper, skip it.  The soup tastes good anyway.  And if you are too tired after chopping all the veggies, skip the blender step.  It will still taste good. The bok choy gives a nice crunchiness to the soup and the garbanzos add protein.  You can also add 1 medium onion, chopped, to the sauté mix at the beginning if you like.

One thing that makes this soup particularly good are the 3 spices.  I keep fresh thyme, oregano, basil and rosemary growing in pots so I can snip what I want when necessary.  The puny dill plant I had in a pot and put in the garden last year sowed itself into the ground so this year I have volunteer dill and plenty of it!  Fresh herbs add a lot to dishes.