This vegan lemon orzo soup is one of those classic “feel good” soups that never fails to lift my spirits in times of blue moods and warm my bones on damp days. The lemony broth paired with the sturdy crunch of fresh baby bok choy and the irresistible pillowy chickpea meatballs, “cheatballs,” is a stupendous combination that need not go untasted.
Vegan Lemon Orzo Soup: A Bowl of Feel Good
Cheatballs were a spontaneous discovery, thrown together in a fit of experimental fervor and desire for something atop this soup in particular. The result? A delicious, creamy chickpea meatball that stands on its own, beyond merely a garnish for this recipe.
As with all soups, the leftovers are of course as delicious reheated as they are fresh, if not more so. Admittedly, this recipe is not the simplest of soups to make and can be quite tricky to time properly (cooking the pasta and the bok choy), but it’s well worth the effort as it yields many a bowl-full beyond the first.
If you have the desire for a hearty, vegan lemon orzo soup with delicious cheatball centerpieces, then give this a try.
Additionally, you can also make just the cheatballs themselves, and use them as you would any kind of meatball-shaped thing.
Lemon Orzo Soup with Bok Choy and “CheatBalls”
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Oven
- Soup Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil,
- 1 large sweet yellow onion, diced
- ~1 ½ cups celery heart, leaves too, diced
- 1 red pepper, de-seeded and diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, de-seeded and diced
- 8 cups vegetable broth or clear vegetable stock, (usually two 4 cup boxes of broth)
- 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder, or to taste
- Some salt and Pepper, to taste
- 1 cup orzo pasta,
- 4 cups baby bok choy, crosscut ¼-inch
- ¼ cup lemon juice,
For the Cheatballs (chickpea meatballs):
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- ½ red pepper, bell or pimiento, finely diced
- 1 cup carrot, finely grated
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 – 3 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 ½ tablespoons tamari
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- In a skillet over medium heat in a medium to large soup pot, sauté the onions, celery and peppers in the olive oil until the onion becomes transparent, about 7-8 minutes. Then, add 1 ½ quarts of the stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and continue to let the soup simmer, seasoning while you go with the rice vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover the pot with a lid.
- Prepare the bok choy and set aside. Also, squeeze the lemon and set that aside, too.
- Next, prepare the "cheatballs" while the soup is simmering. Mix water and ground flax seed together, and let thicken, about 5 minutes. Then, in a skillet over medium heat sauté the onion, pepper, and carrot in olive oil, until the onion becomes transparent, also about 7-8 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roughly smash the canned chickpeas (after rinsing them) with a fork. Not too much – you want the chickpeas to have some chunks. In a medium bowl, combine the chickpeas along with the the ground flax seed mixture, nutritional yeast, sautéed vegetables, Panko breadcrumbs, tamari, salt and pepper. Stir this together until it forms a cohesive mixture.
- Roll the cheatballs a little bigger than a walnut-size, and place them on a baking sheet prepared with a light layer of cooking spray. This should yield around 18 cheatballs. Bake for 14 minutes, then turn the cheatballs carefully, and bake for another 14 minutes or so, until they are golden brown and crispy-feeling.
- After simmering the soup for at least 30 minutes (while cheatballs are in the oven), add the rest of the 1/2 quart of broth or stock, turn up the heat to medium-high heat and then add the orzo pasta. Bring the soup to a boil and then turn back down to simmer (low-medium to medium heat), stirring frequently and checking the doneness of the orzo. After about 7 minutes or once the orzo is almost cooked, bring the heat up once more and add the lemon juice and bok choy. Stir bok choy into the broth until it begins to wilt – a couple minutes. Turn the heat off and cover the soup for 5 minutes.Now, enjoy the soup topped with the cheatballs!
Nutrition
If you have thoughts about this recipe, comment and rate it down below. And if you’re searching for another delicious vegan soup to make, take a look at this Kale and White Bean Soup.
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
A blustery day here in Western Washington. Perfect for this hearty and delicious soup. I bet this would be good with kale or cabbage if you couldn’t fine baby Bok choy