Sour Soup

Photo: flickr user Logan Antill

Ingredients

cup Dried chick peas

cup Cracked wheat

1 cup Dried red lentils

4 cups Boiling water

1 bn Swiss chard

(or other greens such as dandelion or cup Fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons Salt

teaspoon Near East or Aleppo pepper

teaspoon Pureed garlic

3 tablespoons Finely-chopped fresh mint

Preparation

Place chick peas in a bowl, cover with water by at least 2 inches, and soak overnight.

Drain the chick peas and place in a large saucepan. Rinse the cracked wheat under cold running water, and add to saucepan, along with 2 1/2 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Rinse the lentils under cold running water, and add to chick peas and cracked wheat. Pour in the 4 cups of boiling water, and simmer another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash the chard, cut off the thick stems and finely chop them. Add chopped stems to saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. Finely chop the leaves, add them to the saucepan, and simmer an additional 25 minutes. Add the lemon juice, salt, pepper, pureed garlic and mint, stir well and simmer 5 minutes. Remove soup from the heat, and adjust the seasonings. If soup is too thick, add more boiling water.

This recipe yields 6 servings.