Soup for a Winter's Day

What better meal for a dreary winter day than soup? This recipe has some unusual ingredients (at least they seem so to me) but the combination is delicious. I found it online, but made a lot of changes to suit what I had available to me in my cabinets. With gas at $3.25 a gallon today, we're not making any extra trips to town (and it's a 40-minute round trip, not counting time spent in a store).

Chicken-Garbanzo Soup

2 cans chicken broth (or 4 cups)

2 tbsp canola oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp salt (optional, in my opinion)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

3 TBSP Worchestire sauce

15 oz can of garbanzo beans, or 2 cups cooked beans

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch of ground white pepper

Combine these ingredients in a 4-quart pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then add:

1 cup green peas

1 pint canned tomatoes, chopped, or 1 large fresh tomato, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1/c cup cooked rice

1 cup water

Simmer for another 10-15 minutes, or until the added vegetables are cooked to your taste (some people like their carrots crunchy, some like then softer).

I served with Cheesy Drop Biscuits.