Recipe: Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/moroccan-spiced-chickpea-soup-recipe/index.html

Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Soup
Recipe by Dave Lieberman from Food Network.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 1 large onion, medium diced
• 6 to 8 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 (28oz-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 3 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
• 1 quart vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• Kosher salt & Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 (5-ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach

Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until the onions begin to turn translucent; lower heat if browning starts to occur. Add spices and saute a minute or so. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, and agave nectar. Season with a couple pinches of salt and 10 grinds fresh pepper. Stir well. Chickpeas should be just covered with liquid. If level is shy, add some water so the chickpeas are just covered.
Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to low and gently simmer for 45 minutes.
Remove soup from heat. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the chickpeas right in the pot. Stir in the spinach and let heat through until wilted, just a couple minutes.
Season again, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Serve soup, drizzled lightly with extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.

Changes I make:

Changes to original recipe: 1 tbsp olive oil instead of the 1/4 cup, agave nectar instead of sugar, 1/4 tsp cayenne instead of 1/8 and 28oz can of tomatoes instead of 14.5oz can. The agave nectar because its a clean sweetner, more cayenne bumps up the flavor - still very mild and more tomatoes gives more flavor and more liquid.

This is so yummy and the flavors are out of this world. I make this all the time. It's easy, clean and healthy.

Crockpot changes:

I put this in the crockpot. For the crockpot just cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil on the stove, then add the spices and transfer to the crockpot. Add all the rest of the ingredients except for the spinach. When you get ready to eat the soup, add the spinach and stir.