Soup and BROWNIES!!

I made Tuscan Chickpea Soup last night which I thought was really good.  Even my son and his girlfriend ate some.  I made it just like the recipe, except used vegetable stock (which I made) instead of the water.  I'm not crazy about rosemary, so I went very light on that.  I would change one thing, though.  I didn't like the whole chickpeas, but I did like the bits of tomato, so next time I would blend the whole thing (using my immersion blender, of course!) and add the tomatoes last -- so it would be a smooth, creamy, bean soup with bits of tomato.  I like the "petite diced" ones, so they are just little bits.

I served it with my home made whole wheat French bread, which has been a big hit.  My son says it reminds him of the dark wheat bread that they serve at 54th Street Bar and Grill.  It's not dark like that, but kind of heavy and rich.

But, best of all, I made Vegan Brownies, that are really good and fudgy.  I'm eating one right now for lunch. The only change is that I used Splenda Blend instead of sugar and I didn't put in the nuts.  So, mine aren't totally vegan because I used 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips.  There's some dairy in those, but not that much and I thought it was necessary!