Steve “Wildman” Brill - Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants
Early spring chick pea and Violet soup
Violets are great in any soup. I’m especially fond of them with beans.
- 2 cups presoaked chick peas
- 5 cups water or stock
- 1 cup onions
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 6 wild carrots or 3 to 4 large commercial carrots
- 5 celery stalks
- 3 cups chopped Violets (leaves with some flowers)
- 2 to 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 wild bayberry or commercial bay leaves
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp each savory, thyme, sage, rosemary and celery seed
- Dash of wine
Cook the chick peas until soft in the water or stock. Sauté the onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery and Violets in a little olive oil. When soft, add to the soup and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer another 5 minutes.