We enjoyed this. I added cooked crumbled Italian sausage, as my husband needed MEAT and he loved it. Great with crusty bread.
Excellent quick and easy soup! I used bulger wheat instead of couscous because that's all I had. Also added a little red wine when sauteing. Love the cumin flavor.
Love this soup. I have made it several times now. Since we are vegetarian, I just substitute veggie broth. Easy, nutritious and tastes great!!
Very simple soup, and family liked it. My son wasn't too crazy about the taste of the cumin although the rest of us liked it. I'm going to try this again but with some other seasoning blend to see if he likes it any better.
I really enjoyed the recipe but my partner wasn't too keen on the cummin. Perhaps using a little less would be good... we also sprinkled Parmiggiano cheese on the soup... yum!
I don't know how anyone could call this soup bland it was absolutely delicious. I am definitely making this one again
Easy and wonderfully flavored. The couscous does soak up the broth, so I added another 16 ounces to make it more of a soup. It was well received as a first dish. I placed the spinach in the bowl then added the soup. By the time it got to the table the spinach was perfect. I recommend adding it as you go rather then in the pot.
We absolutely loved this dish. Made it just as the recipe states, but only used 3 leeks and included some of the stalks and not just the bulb. Delicious!
I really enjoyed this soup. I did not has couscous and so added 2 diced potatoes. It was hearty, very filling and very fast. I will definitely keep this in my recipe box.
I'm not quite sure how my husband will like it, as he is getting home late tonight, but I LOVED THIS! I read several reviews and added frozen instead of fresh spinach, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, a jalapeno pepper (seeds removed), replaced the chicken broth with vegetable, and doubled that. Also doubled the cumin & added salt & pepper to taste. The basics for this recipe are just fantastic - I usually read the reviews to see what other healthy things I can find to add to it successfully. The couscous was a great touch - I think I added a bit too much, but the extra broth made up for it. I am SO excited to take this for lunch - and if Hubs doesn't like it, more for me :)
Added 2 green chiles (diced) and a few shakes of tobasco for a little extra flavor. I also added a pinch of corn starch to thicken just a little, since I didn't use cous cous. Because of others' comments, I substituted rosemary for cumin. Super easy, inexpensive, and very delicious! Definitely will repeat.
Love, love, love this soup! I've been making it for quite some time now and everyone loves it. It's healthy and delicious. I use fresh spinach and add it at the time of serving. I've used quinoa and couscous and both work great. This certainly has become a family fav! Thanks Beth4kids!
I made this last night. I used as much of the leek as possible and used leftover mashed potatoes instead of Quinoa to thicken it up. Didn't have any Quinoa, but after looking up some recipes with it, I look forward to trying it. Very tasty and filling soup! Will make again!
Pretty good soup. Will make again, but without the couscous- it added way to much bulk! I used roasted garlic instead of fresh, and it added a nice flavor!
This was good but just a tiny bit bland. I added some red pepper flakes and a lot of salt. It could have used some more seasoning but not sure what exactly (lemon juice, perhaps). But overall, very good.
This has become a staple in our home. Delicous and healthy. My kids even gobble this up!!
I had a lot of leeks so i doubled the garlic and used 3 tsp of cumin. I also added two chicken bullion cubes. I didn't drain/rinse the beens and it was fine. I used 4 cups of spinach. It was delicious.
An excellent, nutritious and filling soup. To make it even healthier, I use baby spinach and double the amount. I also use more than the recommended amount of cumin and add a little celery salt, too. Finally, quinoa works in place of the couscous, or you can omit that part altogether.
This was a very good and simple soup. I used navy beans instead of the cannellini beans because that is what I had in my pantry. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I am not sure why some reviewers thought it was bland - I thought is was delicious! I guess everyone's tastes are different. I will be sure to make this soup again!
I thought this recipe was very good. I did not have leeks so I substituted a sliced white onion and green onions. I added 1 1/2 cans diced tomatoes and switched out 1 tsp of italian seasoning instead of the cumin. I like the broth and added more broth and used only 1 bay leaf. I thought this soup had a bunch of flavor. I put the spinach in my bowl then added my soup. I also left out the cous cous all together to skip the extra carbs. I would definitely make this again and again.
Excellent soup! I've made this twice now, the first time I followed recipe almost exactly except for the addition of an extra 32 oz box of chicken stock (it would be to thick without it), more garlic, and I used a 10oz box of frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained. The second time I had to add meat for my carnivorous husband. I precooked some Italian turkey sausage links, sliced them, and added them at the end. It was just as wonderful!
I've also tried substituting kale for the spinach, which is EXCELLENT. It really stands up to the broth base and keeps a nice texture. Add a little diced tomoatoes for added tasted and color.
Simple, light, easy and delicious. The only thing I added was one strip of minced bacon, browned and grease drained for added flavour. Thanks for posting.
Wonderfully healthy! Which more than compensates for it's blandness and you just feel so good eating this! I added more leeks and have made this with barley as well. I really enjoyed this soup. It's colorful too. I'll make this again for sure.
So easy and so good! I added some garlic and used acini de pepe instead of couscous. Mmm!
Thanks for a great recipe with leeks for a lovely soup that isn't filled with potatoes and cream (not that those are not *terribly* WONDERFUL.. but calorie-laden). Forgive as I went the rosmary/thyme route, although I agree it would be as good... but different... with cumin (Make it to your personal taste, some people just don't care for cumin... or cilantro for that matter ... I happen love them both)...I just had some fresh R&T on hand. My own habits encouraged me to not only soften the leeks, but slightly carmelize them...(al la French onion soup) leading to a fond that deglazed to a wonderul rich, brown broth that set off the white beans wonderfully. I'm so enjoying the amroma of steeping bay leaves and ovarall yum. If "light but hearty" exists, this is it. (Even wthiout the whole grain couscous, which I would have loved if I had some available)..... I'll make this again.. THANK YOU!
When I get home at night from work this is exactly the kind of thing I want to cook and eat. This recipe was so easy to throw together and the taste was great. Quick, hot, vegetarian food that is good for me, I thought it was too good to be true!
Excellent, my daughter and I loved it! My husband thought that there was a little too much cumin for his tastes, but he's not the one rating it, I am! :)
Just made this (my first time ever using leeks so I found it to be very interesting) however I did substitute cream of chicken soup for half of the broth, and added crushed red pepper because as some others noticed, it was a bit bland. Otherwise great!
Very good, and good for you! I loved the simple, yet very flavorful, taste.
Taking the advice of other reviews, I doubled the cumin, but later found that the flavor of it was far too strong and over powered everything else. The texture was chunky. Next time I would not use as much cumin and I would puree half the soup ti improve the mouth-feel.
This is a very delicious, filling recipe. Next time I will use a little less couscous.
A great fast recipe. In the future I will use canned vegetable broth. I used buillon cubes this time and the flavor was a little lacking.
Great soup that my whole family, which includes 3 little boys, loved! I also added an extra can of broth, and left out the cumin, since I didn't have any on hand, and it turned out delicious. Also, so easy my 4 year old did most of the work! We love soup in our house...we'll definately make this one often!
Absolutely love this soup. Extra chicken broth and squeeze a lemon slice when serving. Add the spinach per serving so it's fresh upon reheating.
This is a staple in our house! I use quinoa instead of couscous, and add extra broth and it's perfection! Thanks!
Sorry, but this was bland. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't yummy. I'd use some other spice other than cumin. My husband added a 1/2 t of garlic/chili sauce to his serving. However, as the kids and I didn't care for this, he's going to be having this for lunch 3 more times :(
I have made many recipes from this website and love most of them when they are rated so well. This one was bland and not worth the money or time making it. My husband and I are pretty good cooks but we do enjoy a lot of flavor in our dishes and this one failed. Trust me, look up a different recipe if you enjoy flavorful soups.
It's actually better if you make the base w/o the spinach a day before then add the spinach when you reheat. You can also add the light green parts of the leeks as well.
This soup was amazing! I used quinoa instead of couscous, which gave it a very distinct taste. I also added some thyme, tarragon, and a little savory. I barely used cumin, just a sprinkle. The soup had a more savory taste than an ethnic taste. This soup was really very good! So light, simple, healthy, but filling. Definitely will be making this a lot more.
Great vegetarian soup. I substituted vegetable broth for the chicken and quinoa for the couscous. It was a little bland for my friend but he added some Louisiana Hot Sauce and said it was awesome.
simple and yummy. i used vegetable broth instead of chicken and since I didn't have cannelini beans I used garbanzo. still very good. thanks!
This yummy soup has become a staple in our home. I crave it when the cold weather sets in. I'll add extra veggies if I have on hand...carrots and mushrooms. I use quinoa instead of couscous for extra nutrients. Great soup!!
followed exactly as written ... pretty darn bland ... good base, but needs help ... not sure exactly what to do to jazz it up but I'll mess with it ...
Pretty bland. If I make it again I'll try a flavored couscous. I did use frozen spinach and I'm sure that didn't help, but there wasn't much flavor to begin with.
My whole family enjoyed this recipe. I prefer to leave out the cumin. It's absolutely delicious!
This soup was awesome. I made this last night and was floored when I tasted it. Even my husband, who doesn’t particularly like soup without meat, liked it. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks.
Nice "pure" soup. I used swisscard instead of spinach. I also took about a cup of the rinsed and drained beans and about a cup of the leek/broth from the pot and pureed in a mini choper and then added it to the pot for a creamy texture. I left out the "pasta" product of orzo (since I did not have couscous) until the next day to cook when we were ready to serve.
I'm doing WW and saw how low in points this would be so I decided to try it. I made the soup as directed because I don't like when people rate recipes and make tons of changes and then say they didn't like it. Sorry but I didn't like this soup. There isn't enough broth to actually make it a soup so based on someone's recommendation, I would have added at least another can of broth but I had already put in my only 2 cans. As for the cumin, I felt like I was eating dirt. I guess I'm not a cumin fan but I didn't know what else so use as a substitute. Someone had mentioned rosemary but that didn't sound appealing to me. Maybe I would try basil and make it an Italian soup!
I was really expecting this soup to be delicious, but it was a little bland for me. It just needs something a little more. Maybe more leeks and garlic, a less couscous...?
Really yummy I ate so much I didn't need a main course! For the broth I used two stock cubes and instead of the couscous I used red lentils. I used a lot more spinach.
Wonderful!!!! I cut the couscous down to 1/4 cup, and added 1/2 pound extra lean pan sausage- definitely a keeper recipe! Thank you!
Excellent! I have been making this for several years. It is my go-to soup and always appreciated by my husband. I did not change a thing.
I really liked this soup. It was quick and easy to make. I ended up having to add some more chicken broth because the couscous sucked up a lot of the liquid, so next time I will halve the couscous. Some people have said it is bland, but I disagree. I added a little pepper at the end, but not a whole lot. I think the chicken broth gets it salty enough.
Delicious every time! So easy and a fam fave. Make sure to get high quality broth- it makes a big difference. Also, if not salted properly, can be a little bland.
I used kale instead of spinach,what I had in the garden at the time, it turned out great!
Soup was easy and filling, but definitely could use a bit more oomph. I recommend using at least an additional clove of garlic and some fresh herbs like parsley or rosemary to bring a bit of spice to the party. Otherwise, this dish is sort of blah.
I halved the recipe to try and will make again. It's delish. I diced leftover carrots and celery and sauteed with the diced leeks also. Put in less cumin than called for then adjust. If I put in the whole amount, I think it would have been overpowering in that flavor. I love this soup.
This soup is fantastic! I did have to add more liquid, and I used frozen/thawed spinach, as it was what I had. Will definately make again and again.
A good idea however too bland, re-seasoned with chipotle power, crushed red Chile and substituted seasoned whole brown rice. Thought about whole tomatoes...next time.
Really great and healthy, used vegetable broth and used this as my "meatless monday" dinner. I have been dieting and this soup was just what I had hoped it to be.
I used vegetable broth to make this soup and I think that may have been a big part of its downfall. I also think the spices would taste better if it could cook longer. In addition I found there was not enough broth in it. It is very healthy I just think it really requires you to use chicken stock and more of it.
This was a great soup. I found myself skeptical, but as soon as I went to eat it (after a fair amount of salting, granted), wow, impressive! The cumin blends in really nicely, and I loved that there were various textures--the leeks, the spinach, the beans, the couscous. I felt really full after, and it felt like a healthy full.
Very bland when using vegetable broth. Added some cayenne pepper and lots of salt and pepper That helped a bit, but still not a lot of flavor. Hoping that the flavors will develop more over the next day or two.
Excellent! I also added rosemary, thyme, and the leek stalks. I also added about 1 can of water as well to offset the couscous.
This was very good soup. I did make a few changes. First, I sweated the leeks and garlic over very low heat in a covered pan with a few hot pepper flakes for a few minutes. I squeezed the innards out of one fresh Italian sausage, crumbled and browned it and added it with the broth and beans. I used barley instead of coucous, so I had to simmer the soup for about 30 minutes before adding the spinach. We really enjoyed this. Thanks for the post
Wow! that's the comment. loved it!! didn't have couscous. doubled spanich. used clam broth. what a great soup to have all year round.
Excellent soup for a quck homey dinner. Found the flavors to be delicate and nicely combined. Did not add anything to the base recipe. Recomend serving with a strong flavored salad with feta and some herbed or peppery crackers.
I found this rather bland as well. It definitely tastes healthy, and I can see it being a decent winter comfort food, like chicken noodle soup almost. I can't figure out what would give it the flavor boost it seems to need. Maybe a lot of garlic or some carrots and celery. Or both. Might try it again, as it's a good way to incorporate spinach.
Very nice! I read reviews and added an extra can of chicken broth. Used great northern beans, a chopped chicken breast, several squeezes of lemon and a dash of red pepper flakes. Loved the couscous. A nice, hearty soup. Oh- also mashed some of the beans against the side of the pot :)
Quick and easy. You can easily double the amount of stock to this recipe if you don't like it so thick. I added a whole 10 ounce bag of fresh spinach. Delicious.
I agree, this soup was a bit bland. However, I didn't want to mask the leek flavor by adding anything too strong, so I ended up just adding more salt (which I usually try to avoid). Although the end product was mediocre, I appreciate the simplicity of the dish and see opportunities for improvement.
Thank you so much for a very nice. recipe. I did a few changes, but would not have been successful without your base to work from. Thanks again, I love it and will use it over and over.
Excellent Soup. I followed the Directions exactly as is and was very happy with the results. If you haven't made it yet, I would suggest following recipe as is before changing anything. The only thing I would change would be in doubling the recipe and freezing some in containers for later.
Yum! Great recipe...I omitted couscous but added* shitake mushrooms sauteed in 1 tsp of low sodium soy sauce, fresh dill & parsley and green onion to garnish. Used veggie broth and took suggestion to leave fresh spinach on bottom of bowl and pour soup over (great tip!) rather than add to pot.
This is great, hearty soup - I made one change, added 1/2 pound of Italian ground sausage. Also, I placed the spinach in the soup bowls and covered with the soup, it cooked perfectly by the time we got the bowls to the table. Yum!
The soup is very good. Make sure you strain and rinse the beans before cooking, otherwise the soup will become thick. You can put in a lot of spinach (as it goes very well with everything in there), it doesnt taste right if you dont. Ate the leftovers with leftover white rice I had and it tasted very good as well, probably due to the cumin. Thank you for the recipe.
I too added the thyme and rosemary rather than the cumin. Once the couscous had a chance to soak up the broth, the spices became overwhelming. I added 2 additional cups of vegetable broth and a can of diced tomatoes. Only then was it semi-enjoyable. Sadly, not one of my top 10 recipes although it has great ingredients. Sorry.
I make this soup every week. My husband (mr. meat & potatoes)loves it! My modification to the recipe is: 1 tsp of cumin rather than 2 tsp 1/3 cup of couscous rather than 1/2 cup Plus about 6 or 8 slices of Wellshire Farms organic turkey bacon - cooked and sliced.
excellent flavors since i followed the suggestions to use thyme and rosemary instead of cumin and added spinach to each bowl individually to prevent from getting grossy. i added parmesan on top and added chopped celery to the leeks because i had some in my refrigerator. i will use the celery again. also, next time i will use dry beans. the canned don't hold up and get mushy. flavor is still awesome!
I followed this recipe with the exception of adding a third can of broth. I wasn't that crazy about it although my wife liked it. I think it was because I thought the cumin sort of over powered this soup. I made a different version titled "tuscan bean soup" that I tought was much better and I'll go back to. (see 500 Best-Ever Recipes Mediterranean by Beverly Jollands)
