Oriental Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 200 g carrots (2 carrots)
• 2 bulbs fennel
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 20 g ginger (1 piece)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 dried chili pepper
• 2 star anise pieces
• 0.5 tsp ground cumin
• 0.5 tsp allspice
• Salt
• Pepper
• 0.5 l classic vegetable broth
• 2 oranges
• 150 g chickpeas (drained weight; canned)
• 0.5 bunch coriander
• 100 g cream cheese preparation (0.2% fat)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash, trim, peel carrots and cut into sticks.

2. 2.

   Wash, trim fennel, set aside some fresh greens. Halve the bulb, remove the hard core, dice the fennel.

3. 3.

   Peel onion, garlic, and ginger and finely dice them.

4. 4.

   Heat oil in a pot. Sauté onion, garlic, and ginger. Add chili, star anise, cumin, and allspice. Stir until spices perfume the air.

5. 5.

   Add carrots and fennel and sauté for another 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

6. 6.

   Season vegetables with salt and pepper, pour in broth and bring to a boil.

7. 7.

   Halve oranges, squeeze out juice and add to soup. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.

8. 8.

   Meanwhile rinse chickpeas in a sieve under cold water. Drain and add to soup; simmer another 10 minutes.

9. 9.

   Wash coriander, shake dry, pluck leaves. Season soup with salt, pepper, and additional spices as desired. Serve in deep bowls or soup cups.

10. 10.

    Form small dumplings from cream cheese with two teaspoons of dough and place on top of the soup. Sprinkle coriander over them and serve immediately.