It's soup season! To celebrate, we're sharing one of the most delicious recipes from Flavors of the Sun and a universal store favorite: chicken soup. We serve a version of this soup, alongside our classic vegan red lentil, every day in our deli department.

At Industry City, we're currently offering a grilled cheese & soup of the day combo in the café for $18. The options change daily per chef’s choice, but on deck right now is an aged cheddar grilled cheese with a parmesan butter crust and ancho chile plum sauce. Crunchy and savory, this is everything you want from a classic grilled cheese, but elevated with a kick from the chile sauce. We draw from the Mediterranean for our other option: a grilled pita with a creamy paprika cheese and fig jam filling. This stuffed pita is tangy, creamy and slightly sweet, grilled to perfection.

Now, onto the recipe! This is the best kind of peasant dish: a warming, sustaining meal in a bowl that is packed with interesting flavors and textures, from chewy chorizo to silky cabbage. It is so easy to make yet so richly flavored, you’ll want to serve it for a fall dinner gathering. To take this over the top, serve with croutons topped with a dab of toum. It goes well with a glass of rustic red wine.

This recipe is in the Spiced chapter of Flavors of the Sun. The book is divided into five chapters: Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty, and Sweet so you can shortcut to exactly what you're craving. You can order your copy now from wherever books are sold.

SERVES 8
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 in [12 mm] chunks
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp hot (picante) smoked paprika or 1 Tbsp mild smoked paprika mixed with 1/2 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1 lb [455 g] dried chickpeas
4 oz [115 g] serrano ham or prosciutto, cut into 1/2 in [12 mm] cubes
4 oz [115 g] Spanish-style cured chorizo, cut into 1/2 in [12 mm] rounds
8 small red potatoes, scrubbed and halved
8 cups [2 L] low-sodium chicken broth or stock
6 chicken drumsticks
1/2 medium green cabbage (about 1 lb [455 g]), cored and cut into 8 wedges
Fine sea salt and fresh black pepper
1/2 cup [20 g] chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until starting to soften. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, and bay leaves and cook and stir for another 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant and the onions are very soft. Stir in the paprika, oregano, and saffron.

Add the chickpeas, ham, chorizo, and potatoes to the pot and stir to coat with the seasonings. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer; cover the pot, leaving the lid just slightly askew to allow steam to escape, and cook until the chickpeas are tender, about 1 hour. Stir to break up the potatoes a bit.

Add the chicken and cabbage to the pot and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the cabbage is tender, about 20 more minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and when cool enough to handle, pull off the meat, discarding the skin and bones. Return the meat to the soup and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, place 1 cabbage wedge in each wide, shallow bowl and ladle the soup, meat, and chickpeas around it. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.