Did you know that Americans spend more time watching cooking shows on television than they spend cooking in their own kitchen?
Between the rise in the number of women working outside of the home and the food industry begging to let them do the cooking for us, I guess it's not that big of a surprise.
The strange thing is even after we find ourselves conveniently fed, we're still enthralled by watching the act take place in someone's kitchen. Isn't that ironic?
I'm guilty of watching the Food Network just as much as anyone else. In fact, that's where the inspiration for this recipe came from. Everyday Italian, baby!
What can I say? I love me some Giada.
With all of the resolutions being made for the new year, I think that cooking at home more often should be one of them. Letting someone else do the work for you is always nice but they usually don't care about how good it is for you. Not to mention that it's typically more expensive.
Besides, with recipes like this, cooking at home is a breeze! All you have to do is chop a few veggies, sauté them for a couple of minutes and then pour everything else into the pot and let it do the rest.
This soup is actually vegan but you would never guess by how flavorful it is. Fresh herbs, fire roasted tomatoes, and just a little bit of white wine seep into the broth, giving it a richness that warms you to the bone.
It also packs a healthy punch of protein from quinoa, chickpeas and spinach so you won't be left feeling hungry afterwards.
Trust me, after a bowl of this, you'll be happy you cooked at home!
If you're looking for something to dip in this gorgeous broth, make sure to check out our rustic bread recipe!
Quinoa Chickpea Spinach Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 14 1/2 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh sage
Directions
- Start by warming the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and carrot and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add the spinach and continue to cook for another 5 minutes, until it starts to wilt.
- Next pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Then add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, fresh herbs and quinoa.
- Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, until quinoa is tender. Then add the chickpeas and cook for 5 more minutes, until everything is heated through.
- When you're ready to serve, remove the sprigs of herbs with a spoon and then divide remaining portions into separate bowls.
Notes
- This recipe assumes that you have soaked the quinoa for at least 8 hours prior to cooking. I prefer to do this for health benefits which you can read more about in my post on How to Cook Quinoa. If you want to skip this step, simply add an extra cup of vegetable broth during the cooking process.
- I prefer Better Than Boullion's vegetable base for maximum flavor.
Recommended Equipment
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