Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Vegetable Quinoa Soup

It feels so good to be back in the kitchen and feel like cooking.  Now that I'm well into the second trimester of our third baby I wanted to start making recipes that freeze well also.  Another reason this recipe is perfect for this time in our lives, when I'm pregnant most meats don't look appealing for the entire pregnancy but I still want to insure the baby and I are receiving enough as the day goes on.  Why would this recipe work well for your family?  It's SIMPLE!!!  Anyone can make this and feel like they slaved over a hot stove all day but for real chopped up the veggies and put everything in the pot and continue on while it simmers away causing the house to smell wonderful.  Also I'm not a big mushroom fan so hiding those bad boys in this soup was a win!!  My husband and kids did not even spot them (I made sure to chop them up fine).

Ingredients:

• 8 cups vegetable broth + 8 cups vegetable broth on reserve
• 2 cups uncooked quinoa
• 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 small bunch celery, cleaned and sliced
• 1 small head broccoli, washed and chopped
• 2 pounds mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 red onion, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons. garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 2 teaspoons celery seed
• 1 tablespoon marjoram
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube

 

Directions:

1. Saute the onions and mushrooms over low-medium heat in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have completely wilted.
2. In a large soup pot (a 4 quart pot), combine 8 cups of broth, carrots, celery, broccoli, onion/mushroom mixture, bouillon cube and spices. Bring to a boil.
3. When the soup is at a full, rolling boil, add the quinoa.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables are soft and the quinoa is transparent.
5. Add extra vegetable broth as needed to maintain a soupy consistency. (I nearly burned mine because I wasn’t watching it towards the end. So I added my extra broth at the end, and it was perfect)