Spicy Chickpea Soup with Roasted Peppers

Ingredients!

5 cloves garlic, chopped
Oil and/or butter (this is vegan if you skip the butter)
1 can chickpeas
Splash of lemon juice.
About 1 cup worth of chopped tomatoes 
1 red and 1 green bell pepper
Dry spices: thyme, garlic, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper
1 and a half cups of broth or water

Steps:

First thing: start your peppers roasting. Do this using whatever method appeals to you or follow the instructions here.

Then start 4 of your garlic cloves in some oil and/or butter. Lately I have been reserving 1 clove and chop it much more finely to throw in raw at the end - when raw, garlic is a prebiotic (i.e. feeds the helpful bacteria) and also has antifungal/antibacterial properties.

While simmering, add spices and lemon juice. For the spices: I added a large amount of paprika because I want that red pepper flavor, and a couple shakes of everything else. Let your nose be your guide. FYI for cayenne & cinnamon, a little goes a long way.

When your garlic is tender add your chickpeas and water or broth. Bring back up to a simmer.

Then smash up your chickpeas somewhat. You can use an immersion blender or, if you're like me and don't have fancy cookware, just use a potato masher! It doesn't have to be a puree, just smaller chunks.

Let this simmer until your peppers are roasted. Peel your roasted peppers (let them cool first, dude, don't get burned!), chop them into bite size pieces and stir them in.

Add your chopped tomatoes and raw garlic and you're good to go!

This is way yummy for dipping bread in or just eating on its own.

Chickpea & Red Bell Pepper Soup

I'm trying to get a little more protein because I'm recovering from a muscle/tendon injury. Then I learned from Google that a cup of chickpeas has 39 GRAMS (!!!) of protein and so...

Ingredients:

1 cup water
Bullion cube (I use Knorr's vegetarian vegetable)
1 can of chickpeas
Quarter of a vidalia onion
1-2 cloves garlic
Butter
1 small red bell pepper
5 sundried tomatoes
Paprika, Garlic Powder, Turmeric, Cumin, Salt, Nutmeg (to taste)
Splash of lemon juice.
Potato flakes to thicken as desired

Chop up a few cloves of garlic and your onion and start them off in some butter. Chop up red pepper (doesn't have too be too small) and add that too. Add your spices. After they are a bit more cooked, add  your can of chickpeas (don't drain it).

Let these things simmer a bit and then use a slotted spoon to transfer your chickpeas and red pepper into a blender.
Keep the heat on and add half a cup of water, and your bullion cube, to the pot. Dice up sundried tomatoes pretty finely and add them too. Cover.
Now, add the other half cup of water to the blender and blend until it is a thick liquid. Add back to pot.

If you like it a little thicker (which I do) you can add a couple of spoonfuls of potato flakes which are my preferred soup thickener because they're hassle free and a bit more nutritious than plain white flour. Or you can whisk in some flour if you're good at that (I'm not!)

Stir. Add a splash of lemon juice. Stir more. Simmer for a few more minutes and serve!