VegBatch
← All recipes

Pumpkin & Coconut Soup with Moroccan Chickpea Salad

A smooth spiced pumpkin soup finished with coconut milk and lime, served alongside a no-cook chickpea salad with carrot, tomato, herbs and feta. The soup is warm and creamy, the salad bright and lemony, and both keep well for lunches.

5 servings · 30 min · main · Moroccan · vegetarian

Ingredients

Pumpkin & Coconut Soup

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 piece white onion, diced
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 pinch ground nutmeg
  • 3 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 3 cup pumpkin purée, or organic pure pumpkin, or try squash or sweet potato
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 cup light coconut milk
  • sea salt, to taste
  • ground black pepper, to taste
  • ¾ cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
  • 6 tablespoon raw pumpkin seeds

Moroccan Chickpea Salad

  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 3 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 piece carrot, large, peeled and julienned
  • 3 piece green onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 piece plum tomato, diced
  • 1 piece red bell pepper, diced
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped
  • ⅓ cup low-fat feta cheese, crumbled

Method

  1. SOUP — ONE: Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon, chile powder, cumin and nutmeg and cook for about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until fragrant. Add broth and pumpkin and whisk until incorporated and smooth, adding up to 1 cup water if broth is too thick (soup should coat the back of a spoon). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add lime juice. Stir in coconut milk and season with salt and pepper.
  2. SOUP — TWO: Ladle 1⅓ cups soup into each of 6 bowls. Top each with 2 tbsp yogurt and 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds and serve immediately.
  3. SALAD — ONE: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, cumin, salt, black pepper and cayenne; set aside.
  4. SALAD — TWO: In a large bowl, combine chickpeas, carrot, onions, tomatoes, red pepper, cilantro, mint and feta.
  5. SALAD — THREE: Pour lemon juice dressing over chickpea mixture and toss to combine. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

Notes

Soup headnote: add the coconut milk at the end of cooking, as it will curdle and separate if boiled. Salad: serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours; leftovers pack well and often taste better the next day. For a more classic lunch salad, serve over a bed of lettuce drizzled with a bit of extra lemon juice.

Adapted from Clean Eating, March 2011. Ingredients and method only — the description and any notes above were written for VegBatch.