Today I repurposed my juicing pulp by creating a recipe that has potential…but forewarning –
**Don’t make soup with grapefruit pulp.**
So I took this leftover pulp from yesterday’s affordable juice and decided to try to make a Tex Mex Chickpea Soup recipe with it. I mean, there was cilantro in yesterday’s Tangster juice recipe after all, so I figured a Tex Mex flair would do just the trick! Well, as you’ll learn, I was a little off.
Here are all the ingredients you’ll need for this.
Ingredients
- Leftover juice pulp (again, stick to green juice pulp)
- 1 carton of vegetable broth (32 oz.)
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 TBS grape seed oil
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1/2 c. couscous
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- a sprinkle of red pepper
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp taco seasoning
- sprinkle of ginger powder
- 1 TBS nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp garlic powder
Steps
I started by chopping up the onion and garlic cloves.
Then I sauteed them in the grape seed oil along with the can of chickpeas after I rinsed the chickpeas.
The smell of onion and garlic cooking in the oil was heavenly. It filled the room and made it so homey and warm.
While the chickpeas and onions sauteed, I got out the slow cooker, AKA the good old crock pot, and poured in the carton of vegetable broth along with two cups of water. Then I added the leftover juice pulp.
After the chickpeas and onions had sauteed for around 5 minutes, I added them to the slow cooker. Then I added the 1/2 cup of couscous and turned the slow cooker on high.
That’s when I added the cumin, chili powder, red pepper, black pepper, taco seasoning and ginger powder. I let it cook for about two hours and the aroma was pleasant, similar to a chicken soup scent.
When I came back and I gave it a taste…well it didn’t taste bad, but it didn’t taste good. It had some level of blandness and bitterness. On the second taste, I got a mouthful of grapefruit pulp, and that’s when I knew it needed help.
So I added 1 TBS of nutritional yeast, which has a satisfying unami/cheese flavor, along with some more garlic powder. The additions really enhanced the general flavor of the soup and covered over the broth’s bitter flavor. However, when I took another bite that had grapefruit pulp in it, it still couldn’t cover that poignant smack on my tongue.
Lesson learned: make vegan soup. But don’t make it with fruit pulp.
I’ll let you know if I try this recipe again without grapefruit. Until next time,
❤ The Freegan
