Sweet Potato, Chickpea & Chorizo Soup with Greens

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Sweet Potato, Chickpea & Chorizo Soup with Greens

You turn the radio on and they’re hyping a winter storm that’s moving in.  Your reflexes kick in and you immediately grab your Dutch oven.  It’s instinctual.  It’s time for a hearty cold-weather soup.

Here’s a good one to get you through the first or thirtieth storm this winter.  It’s a stick-to-your-ribs combination of chickpeas, sweet potatoes, chorizo sausage, spinach, and kale simmered with smoked paprika and cumin.  It’ll warm you to your core.  It might even leave you hoping for more cold, miserable days.  Umm…maybe not, but it’s a good soup and you should give it a go.

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Clam, Chorizo & Chickpea Soup with Saffron Aioli

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Chickpea, Chorizo & Clam Soup with Saffron AioliI can hardly claim to be an “expert” on any cuisine, but based on my family name, my travels, and my resume, I am at least familiar with a lot of what Italian and French cuisines have to offer.

Not Spanish food, though.  Spain is a bit of a mystery.

I’ve been there, but it was brief and at the end of months living abroad on a student budget.  Sure, I remember having churros con chocolate (life-changing, obviously) and paella but my funds and timeframe didn’t allow me to dig in much beyond that.

So that’s my disclaimer.

That being said, I like to imagine if I’d stayed a little longer, turned a few more corners, stepped into a couple more restaurants, and eaten a few more dinners, I might have had something like this: a tomatoey clam, chickpea, and Chorizo soup, scented with smoked paprika and plenty of garlic, served with crusty, crunchy bread and saffron aioli.  Perhaps?  I’d like to think so.

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