This is one of my favorite soup recipes from The Veg-Feasting Cookbook. You can make this soup as smooth or chunky as you like, depending on how much you mash or puree it. Serve it with some nice crusty whole-grain bread.

Serves 6 to 8

1½ tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped (about 1½ cups)

2 medium ribs celery, chopped (about 1 cup)

2 medium carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1½ teaspoons dry mustard

¾ teaspoon ground dried sage

2 (14-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained (about 3½ cups)

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon tamari

2 teaspoons molasses

1 large bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, salt and black pepper to taste. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the zucchini, mustard, and sage, and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the chickpeas, canned tomatoes and their juice, broth, water, sun-dried tomatoes, tamari, molasses and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove but reserve the bay leaf, and mash or lightly puree the soup (keeping it slightly chunky), then stir in fresh thyme. Add the bay leaf back in and simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes. Adjust the seasonings with more salt and pepper to taste, remove the bay leaf and serve.