Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

When the weather is cold, I crave two things:

1. Soup.
2. Roasted stuff.

So I was pretty psyched today when Joe made me a roasted eggplant and chickpea soup for dinner. What?!

This recipe is from what I like to call Martha Stewart's "weeknight magazine" -- Everyday Food. They did a whole feature on roasted soups, but I immediately flagged this one for immediate preparation. I'm glad I did, since it's really delicious. Roasting the veggies gives it a nice full flavor, and a swirl of yogurt adds just the right amount of tang. A sprinkle of fragrant fresh oregano tops it all off.

Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

• 2 medium eggplants, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, diced medium
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• Fresh oregano
• Plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, toss together eggplants, onion, garlic, and 4 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet, leaving a wide strip of empty space at one end. In the bowl, toss chickpeas with 2 teaspoons oil. Transfer to empty space on sheet. Roast until eggplant is golden and cooked through and chickpeas are slightly crunchy, about 35 minutes.

Set chickpeas aside. Peel garlic and add to a medium pot, along with eggplant, onion, and broth. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high. With a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon, mash some eggplant until soup is thick and chunky. Stir in chickpeas and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, top with fresh oregano and plain yogurt.