Hi there bloggies:

I am recovering from surgery pretty well so far. I have watched some movies (thanks Andrew for bringing me The Social Network!I) and enjoyed having company. Last night I started reading again, which is a good sign in the recovery process. Today I hope to finish Perfect Life by Jessica Shattuck.

The surgery was Wednesday and I was home from the hospital by 12:30 on Thursday afternoon – not too bad!

On Friday night my mom and sister made soup for dinner. It was quite good, and I can only imagine how much I will enjoy it one day once I am well – especially if I enjoyed it this much while I was in recovery mode.

I loved the colors, tastes and textures of this soup – it was beautiful:

Here is the recipe – I highly recommend that you give this soup a try!

Hearty Spinach and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups water

1/2 cup short grain brown rice

1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more for drizzling if desired)

1 onion finely chopped (approximately 1 1/2 cups)

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps cleaned and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

6 cups homemade or reduced sodium store bought chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled (if you are using fresh rosemary, add a teaspoon – dried is stronger)

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed (this will get rid of some of the excess sodium)

10 ounces baby spinach

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (approximately 1/2 cup)

Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring the water to a rapid boil. Stir in brown rice and return to a boil; reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook until rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid, 30 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile in a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about five minutes. Add broth and rosemary; bring to a boil cover and remove from heat.

Stir rice and chickpeas into broth mixture; return to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and continue cooking 5 minutes more to allow flavors to blend.

Stir in spinach and cook, uncover until just wilted about 1 minute. [Optional: add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, to taste] and season with pepper. Serve immediately, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and drizzle with more oil if desired.

Serves 6

Per serving: 244 calories, 2 grams saturated fat, 4.1 g unsaturated, 5.9 milligrams cholesterol, 32.8 grams carbohydrates, 14.9 protein, 395 mg sodium (you can lower this by using 3 cups reduced sodium stock and 3 cups water) 5.2 grams fiber.

The soup was a huge hit in our family and it is definitely something we will be making again. It is a great soup to have during the winter months.

We found this recipe in the Providence Journal and the paper found the recipe from “Power Foods”