Comfort eating on a raining day

With the change of seasons comes the unpredicted weather, one day the sun is shining and the next its pouring down with rain.  But there are those days in between when the drizzle of rain carries on all day and the coldness goes through you.
On these days I want to eat something warm, robust and satisfying for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don't want to spend all day in the kitchen but neither do I want to have something too light and subtle. Earlier in the week I had made a batch of bread dough, from which I had made Pesto, Rocket and Feta pizza.
With just under a third of the dough leftover( not enough to make a loaf but enough for a couple of rolls). I split the dough into two and then rolled each ball into a oval shaped flat bread, brushed with garlic and herb infused olive oil and baked in the oven for about 8mins in a moderate oven.
I used store cupboard ingredients to make this simple Asian chickpea soup. I made enough for one largish bowl, but you can make larger quantities using this recipe just by upping the ingredients. This is a really good homely comfort eat for me as it always reminds me of my family home.

Channa Masala Soup
1 small onion finely chopped
half a can of cooked chickpeas
half cup of curry sauce (made from previous post) You can use a shop bought curry paste
1tsp garam masala
1 small tomato roughly chopped
2tbsp of low fat yogurt
fresh coriander chopped

Fry the onions in a tsp of oil until soft and transparent, add the curry sauce and warm through. Add the chickpeas with some of the canning liquid and cook by simmer for about 10-15 minutes, you can also season with salt and pepper at this stage if you like. Turn off the heat, but leave on the stove, sprinkle on the garam masala and cover for 2mins.
Serve in a large bowl sprinkled with the coriander,

The tomato and yogurt you can either serve on top or separately on the side.
I had mine with the garlic and herb flat breads but you can serve this with rice or shop bought naan bread.
You can also add a handful of spinach if you have some and if you don't have chickpeas then you can use any canned bean/pulse you have in your cupboard/pantry
This dish should take no more than 25-30mins to make from start to finish, quicker and healthier than any takeaway curry
This recipe is so adaptable to make any type of bean soup using whatever you have to hand.
It is important to add a depth of flavor to canned beans as they tend to be bland on their own. I also use the canning liquid as it contains a lot of nutrients and flavor from the beans.
You can omit the curry sauce with a tomato sauce base, cannellini (white) beans,  adding fresh basil and oregano.
By swapping the cannellini beans with black beans and adding minced chilli, garlic and cumin. Add diced pepper to the onions, you will have a spicy black bean soup. Serve with either sour cream or guacamole for a bit of extra decadence and tacos

 Spicy Black Bean Soup

Add cooked rice during the last 8-10 minutes to make it more like a one bowl chilli ( for a meaty version add diced beef to the onions and saute)
You can use chicken/vegetable stock instead of the sauce, add a couple of minced garlic cloves, oregano , pancetta/crispy bacon and a handful of cooked pasta
Add crumbled Italian sausage or for a Spanish flavor add chorizo
You can also add in the rind of parmigiano-Regina cheese which will give the soup another layer of flavor.
You can also add cooked meats to create a bean stew, I will often use roast meat bones or bits of meat leftover from the previous evening to create a stew in under 30 minutes. Saute the meat/bones with the onions and add any leftover vegetables (chop into a small dice), pour in the beans with the liquid. Add your choice of herbs and stock, leave to simmer for about 20-30 minutes, remove the bones, season and serve.
I hope that these few ideas will encourage you to use more canned beans/pulses to make everyday meals with a minimum of effort and inspire you to create your own combo.

 Chicken, bean and vegetable stew

Joyous dining!!