Prepare ingredients: roughly chop the onion(s), thinly slice the celery, slice carrots into small circles. Peel garlic cloves and measure spices. Rinse and drain chickpeas; rinse rice until water runs clear.

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery, carrot in 2 Tablespoons water or both, adding more as needed (1 Tablespoon at a time) so veggies don't stick to bottom of pan. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, until veggies are starting to soften and they're lightly browned.

Use microplane grater (or garlic press) to grate garlic into pot along with oregano, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt and pepper. cook, stirring for 2 minutes, adding additional water/broth if bottom of pot is too dry.

Add rinsed rice and stir to coat with spices. Then add veggie broth. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered for 20 minutes. Stir in beans and miso until miso has dissolved. Continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until rice is chewy, but not mushy. Remove bay leaves, zest and juice the lemon into the pot and stir well.

Puree a cup or two of the soup in a blender and return to the pot. OR, blend directly in the pot using an immersion blender. If soup is too thick, add more water/broth until desired consistency is achieved*. Taste for seasoning, adding more S+P as needed. I