This recipe was from Dr. John McDougall's April 2012 Newsletter. The recipe was contributed by Veronica Patenaude. Her website is: www.lowfatveganchef.com. Garbanzo beans, aka 'chickpeas', are the beans with the highest iron content. I adapted the recipe a wee bit!

This recipe serves 6.

Ingredients:

7 cps low sodium veggie broth
1 large onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp dried rosemary of 3/4 T fresh
3/4 tsp dried thyme or 3/4 T fresh
1 (28 oz) can of fire roasted diced or crushed tomatoes (if you cannot find fire roasted, add 1 tsp dried red chili pepper to the soup)
3 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 5 1/2 cps cooked chickpeas)
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried ground fenel seed
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Herbamare or sea salt to taste

Saute onion, garlic, rosemary, and thyme in 1 cp of the broth over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add more broth if necessary to keep from burning.

Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and remaining broth.

Then take 4-5 cps of the soup mixture and blend in a Vita-mixer or food processor until just barely chunky. Add the blended soup back to the pot, add the balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes till chickpeas are tender. Season to taste with pepper and Herbamare or salt.

Hint: Herbamare is a seasoning mixture thar contains sea salt and various herbs. It can be found in most natural food stores or ordered on Amazon. If you don't have it, use sea salt to taste, or a seasoning mixture without salt, like a Mrs. Dash product, if you prefer.