Purple Pride

Sports do not come naturally to me. (I know, you're so surprised, right?) I only learned to understand football as a devoted marching band member. That said, as a boisterous, enthusiastic, and (above all) LOUD person, I am a very good cheerleader. And I am very indiscriminate in my cheerleading -- I will be just as enthusiastic for bocce as for basketball, as fervent for football as for foosball  .

Purple skyline, purple soup.

It is a lovely coincidence that the team color for my adopted-home-town team here in Baltimore is purple, as purple is my favorite color. Makes it very easy to get dressed up in support of the Ravens. Even more awesome is how fired up this town gets about its sports teams. Os, Ravens--there are a lot of birds in this town, and people love the shit out of them. I'm ok with that. I like the enthusiasm. I also like purple. Pretty much everyone in this town is busy decking themselves and their surroundings out in purple paraphernalia in preparation for tomorrow (there's this game happening, perhaps you've heard?).  In tribute, I wore purple pretty much every day this week and painted my nails a lovely shimmery dark plum hue (shout out to the MIL for an excellent stocking stuffer). But...it's me we're talking about, so naturally I was searching for a purple-tinged food to make for this weekend as well.  Cupcakes? Cookies? Something with eggplant?

Lo and behold, when getting creative in the lunch-making department today, my purple food found me.  And! Because it's delicious and healthy, I shall share it with you all!

Purple Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas
• 1 (ish) cup frozen green beans
• 1 c forbidden rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6-8 cups water and chicken or beef bouillon to taste OR stock.
• several handfuls of chopped fresh kale
• Za'atar, salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Brown beef in the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven. Remove from pot and drain. Saute onion and garlic in the same pot on medium high so they pick up the flavor from the beef. Use a little bit of water to deglaze the bottom of the pot and infuse the veggies with the meaty flavor. Return beef to the pot. 
2. Drain and rise chickpeas, add those to the mix. Season with S&P. Let these hang out together about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add stock/water+bouillon. I used chicken bouillon and lots of water, because that's what I had. It would have tasted great with beef broth/bouillon too. Just be careful not to add so much that there's no room for things to boil.
4. Add the green beans (straight from frozen). You are now permitted to add the forbidden rice.
5. Dump a whole bunch of za'atar in there. I'm guessing 1-2 tablespoons. Honestly, I have no idea what's in it. The illustrious N introduced me to it way back in our first year and I've been using it to season soups, sauces and dips ever since.  Check out the wiki article, very informative!  
6. Add some cracked black pepper, probably 1-2 teaspoons worth. Bring the whole thing to a rolling boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium low. Let burble for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add chopped kale, stir into soup and let bubble away for another 5 or so minutes. Voila!

As the rice cooks it turns the soup this lovely deep purple color, which contrasts with the bright green kale.  It's a hearty soup; the flavors are subtle but interesting and cohesive. To be real, I'll probably add even more za'tar next time. An unexpectedly purple treat to prepare for tomorrow. GO RAVENS!