Extracted from our new favorite cookbook, Sebze: Vegetarian Recipes from My Turkish Kitchen by Özlem Warren (Hardie Grant Books, $40). Photography by Sam A Harris. 

Warren writes: "This delicious, wholesome soup is inspired by Gaziantep’s Lebeniye soup. Traditionally, minced (ground) meat is added and locals tend to make the soup in the spring, when the chard (pazı) first comes out. Locals use the stalks in the soup and save the chard leaves to make other dishes, such as stuffed leaves with rice and herbs (sarma). I chose to use the chard as a whole here; I adore its savoury taste and it works so well with yoghurt and infused oil."

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 200 g (7 oz) Swiss chard, trimmed and finely chopped, including stems
• 115 g (4 oz/generous ½ cup) long-grain rice, rinsed
• 225 g (8 oz/1½ cups) precooked, rinsed chickpeas (garbanzo beans) (discard any loose skins), such as Rancho Gordo Garbanzo beans
• 1.1 litres (37 fl oz/scant 4½ cups) hot water
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 650 g (1 lb 7 oz/scant 2½ cups) strained (süzme) whole milk yoghurt
• 1 medium egg, beaten
  
  FOR THE INFUSED OIL
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon pul biber
   
  Serves 4 to 6

1. Heat the oil in a medium–large saucepan over a medium heat, add the garlic and sauté for 1–2 minutes. Add the chopped chard and sauté for another 2 minutes, then stir in the rice and chickpeas, and pour in the hot water. Season with salt and pepper, combine well, and bring to the boil, then cover and cook over a medium–low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Place the strained yoghurt in a large bowl, add the beaten egg and combine. Take 1 ladle of hot water from the pan and slowly blend into the yoghurt and egg mixture, then add another ladle of hot water to the mixture and combine well. This will help to bring the yoghurt mixture to the soup temperature gently and avoid curdling. Pour this mixture into the soup and carefully combine, then bring to a gentle simmer over a low–medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for a further 3–4 minutes over a low heat, season to taste, then remove from the heat.
   
3. FOR THE INFUSED OIL, pour the olive oil into a small sauté pan, stir in the dried mint and pul biber, and stir gently over a low heat (so that the spices don’t burn) for about 30 seconds to infuse.
   
4. Pour the infused oil into the soup and combine well. Serve immediately while warm.