Moroccan chickpea soup with wholewheat cous cous

New Year's Resolution Number 1: Start blogging again.

I've been kinda lazy with my Gentle Lentil posts lately - work was super busy so the last thing on my mind in the evenings was blogging, instead I've been getting sucked into 12458621 series marathons (HELLO OITNB, Homeland etc.). I've been lazy with my meals too - beige-y carbs ahoy - but all of that is about to change, I want to start eating fun, colourful food again!

I've been meaning to post this soup for months, I've made it a few times now and it's really delicious - it's also filling enough to have for a main meal. You might find it difficult to track down ras-el-hanout and harissa, I ended up finding mine in a local healthfood shop and Marks & Spencer - either way, these two ingredients are essential!

This recipe serves four.

Hope you enjoy ♥
 
Ingredients

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced into small cubes
• 5 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1 inch of ginger, grated 
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp ras-el-hanout
• 2 tbsp harrisa paste
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin chickpeas
• 80g wholewheat cous cous
• 800ml vegetable stock
• ½ a lemon, juiced
• Chopped coriander, for serving 

Method

Heat 2 tsps of olive oil in a large saucepan, add chopped onion and carrot. Fry this over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute. Add ras-el-hanout and harissa and stir well - fry for a minute. Finally, stir in the tinned tomatoes, chickpeas and about 700ml of the vegetable stock - we just need to reserve enough to prepare the cous cous with. Turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for around 20 minutes. 

Whilst the soup is simmering we will prepare the cous cous. Pour dry cous cous into a bowl with 1tsp olive oil. Add 100ml of hot vegetable stock and cover. Allow this to soak for 20minutes and when ready, uncover and fluff with a fork.

After 20 minutes, remove soup from heat and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Ladle the soup into bowls and add a large spoonful of cous cous to each. Serve with a good sprinkling of chopped coriander. Enjoy!