Creamy Chickpea Soup

When I was in Salmon Arm last week Mia and I had our lunch at the Blue Canoe Café. On the first day we ate roasted vegetable soup and it was so delicious that the following day after a big morning of cross-country skiing (if you ever get to a chance to go to the Larch Hills, it is beautiful up there!) Mia suggested we go back the Blue Canoe for lunch again. On this second day the soup was equally delicious- creamy chickpea coconut with pesto drizzled on top. I decided to try and recreate this second soup. Not quite as delicious as the Blue Canoe Café version but definitely good.

Ingredients:

3  tablespoons olive oil
4 gloves chopped fresh garlic
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 tbls grated fresh ginger
2 carrots, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 apple peeled and chopped
3 cups vegetable stock
2  cans of chickpeas
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2-3 tsp masala spice
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
4 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil
2. Add onions, sauté for 3-4 minutes then add garlic and carrots
3. Sauté 10-15 minutes.
4. Add squash, stock, chickpeas, ginger and coriander; bring to a boil.
5. Cook until all the vegetables are tender, approx 30 minutes. Add coconut milk and cilantro, blend well. For an extra smooth and creamy soup put through the blender twice.
6. If you have pesto on hand, add additional olive oil and blend to make it a liquid consistency that can be drizzled on top of the soup. At the Blue Canoe they drizzled the pesto in the shape of a flower and it looked really nice.
7. Enjoy!