Harira
Harira is more than the traditional soup served to break the daily fast at Ramadan, it’s just the ticket to nurse you through a cold or lift you out of a bad mood.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm vegetable broth or water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- teaspoon turmeric
- 3 zucchini or yellow squash or a combination chopped
- 2 red peppers chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 1 28- ounce box or can diced tomatoes or 2 pounds gorgeous ripe tomatoes
- 1 15- ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pinch saffron or ras en hanout optional but very nice
- 1 small handful whole wheat vermicelli or angel hair broken into pieces
- juice of 1 lemon
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 handful fresh cilantro chopped
- extra lemon wedges for serving if desired
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water or vegetable broth. Set aside.
- In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and turmeric. Sauté a few minutes, until onion softens and turns golden. Add chopped squash, red pepper and celery.
- Continue cooking, stirring often, for another 5 minutes.
- Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and saffron or ras en hanout. Reduce heat to medium-low and let harira simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour. Give it an occasional stir, but it’s mostly okay on its own.
- Add broken noodles and dissolved yeast. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Season with sea salt and pepper. Stir in chopped cilantro just before serving.
- Serve with extra lemon wedges if desired.