How To make Garbanzo Bean Soup

2 1/2 C dried garbanzo beans
3 T olive oil
1 large onion

finely diced
1 small carrot :

finely diced
1 stalk celery -- finely diced
9 C broth
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
To serve: 2/3 C sour cream
3 T chopped fresh dill
Supposedly serves 9, what an odd number to see in the servings... 1. Place the garbanzo beans in a bowl, cover with 3 inches of water and soak for at least 8 hours or up to 10. Or for a quick cooking method, cover beans with boiling water and set aside to cook for 1 hour, then continue with the recipe.
(What a lot of fuss..no wonder folks don't use dry beans....the easiest way is to soak your beans one night (in the fridge in warm weather so they don;t ferment), pour off the cooking water, dump into crock pot, cover with water, can add a piece of kombu, a sea veggie, and cook on low all day. drain, and freeze in freezer bags in use sizes (1 C, 2 C etc). To use, take the bag out and dump into soup pot with everything else.)
2. Place oil in a 2 qt soup pot over med heat add onions and cook for 5 min, Add carrots and celery and cook another 5 mint.
(Again I wouldn't bother, I'd swipe out the bottom of the pot with my trusty pastry brush and a little bit of oil, add the stuff and cook gently till softened)
3. Add the drained beans and 6 C broth. Cover, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered for 1 1/2 hours.
(This is too much like work...I'd dump it into a crockpot and forget about it for a few hours)
4. Puree
5. Combine the puree, remaining 3 C broth and lemon juice in a 1 qt pot, Cover, bring to boil;l then reduce the heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Place a dollop of sour cream ( I'd use non fat plain yoghurt but one could use fat free sour cream, I suppose) in each soup bowl, sprinkle with dill and pour hot soup into the bowls.
To freeze: Allow the pureed beans to cool to room temp. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled then freeze up to 6 months. To serve, defrost and finish as in Step 5.
of course, I'd put garlic into this soup or serve it with Garlic Bread by the Empress of Garlic and a salad. Comments by Gloriamarie