Un-complicated soup

Star rating: 5!

Tonight for dinner I made simple vegetable soup. In my first post I committed to using recipes because I finally admitted that my improvisational cooking leaves something (lots of things) to be desired. In The Joy of Cooking, there is a basic vegetable soup that suggests:

2 cups of stock

2 cups diced vegetables

1.5 tsp. tomato paste or 1/2 c chopped tomatoes

No pre-cooking, sauteing, spices, nothing. Soups don't like my tendency overcomplicate them.

A dinner complete with flavor and nutrition.

Tonight's No-Frills Soup:

1 cup Pacific organic vegetable broth

2 cups water

1/2 cup quinoa (I rinse it really well to get all the bitter resin off of the outside)

1 small beet

1 small zuccini

1 carrot

1/2 c chopped baby spinach

1 tomato

1 small garlic clove

(Ginger would also make a lovely addition to this soup).

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer for 10-15 minutes until quinoa is fully cooked. Add 1-2 Tbsp olive oil (for the good fats), an optional dash of mirin, and black pepper and salt to taste.

Makes a modest two servings (ie. my dinner and tomorrow's lunch).

After eating, I read this (and by the way, who eats that way???) and was inspired so added some anti-inflammatory herbs to the leftovers. Added 1 tsp. tumeric, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. ginger powder. We'll see if I can palette this soup tomorrow.