Healing Quinoa Vegetable Soup

This Healing Quinoa Vegetable Soup was necessary on so many levels.

It’s been a daunting month in my tightly-knit circle of friends. Since the beginning of November, we’ve experienced two cancer scares and an auto-immune disorder diagnosis. And behind all of the words of encouragement and support, stress levels were at an all-time high.

Overall, we’re healthy people. We run; we exercise regularly; we eat smart; and we take care in nourishing our bodies. To say that it all felt like a cruel joke would be an understatement.

But shit got real.

Because I’m basically Wolverine, I’m recovering really well from a surgery I had last week, and self-care + taking care of my people is priority. In order to boost my healing and help a gal pal out with her recent RA diagnosis, I wanted to make a mega batch of wholesome soup brimming with nourishment and anti-inflammatory foods.

You know, in a feelgood eat your veggies + build your immune system kind of way.

Not in a hippy hoodoo anti-medicine kind of way.

Just to clarify.

Anti-inflammatory foods taste fabulous together.

A healthy diet is so important. And though I don’t believe anyone should solely rely on natural remedies over science, nourishing our bodies can only help the healing process.

So, I propped my laptop up on my kitchen counter last week and I did some homework. I wanted to create a powerful soup that would not only soothe the soul, but also ease any inflammation happening in our bods. I was a little worried about certain flavors not working well—after all, I typically leave ginger for my East + Southeast Asian soups—but I was over the moon when I added it to this pot and learned that it worked.

Along with ginger, the turmeric, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, rosemary, and quinoa in this soup work as anti-inflammatories to create a healing soup that is appetizing and substantial.

It’s perfect for lunch and dinner!

If you make this recipe, please snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @killing__thyme! I love hearing from you <3

5 from 4 votes

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Healing Quinoa Vegetable Soup

This Healing Quinoa Vegetable Soup is full of anti-inflammatories like ginger, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, turmeric, and quinoa.

Course Entree or Side, Main Course, Soup, Vegetarian

Cuisine Vegan, Vegetarian

Author Killing Thyme

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 medium-sized zucchini, thinly sliced and halved
• 2 cups frozen green beans
• 3 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
• 32 oz low-sodium vegetable broth *see notes
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 3-4 cups water
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried thyme or Italian spices
• 1.5 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt, more to taste if needed
• Cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 heaping cups ribboned or torn baby spinach

Instructions

1. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over moderate heat. Add diced onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, carrots, and celery, and sauté for about 5-7 minutes, or until onions are translucent and aromatic. Add the zucchini, green beans, and parsley, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

2. Add the vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, water, dried herbs, and sugar. Season with the salt and pepper to taste, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the soup simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

3. Add the dry quinoa and cover; cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked.

4. Finally, add the cannellini beans and the spinach. Simmer for another 5 minutes, and serve.

Recipe Notes

*For this recipe, I used a nutrient-dense homemade vegetable broth. You can use a low-sodium store-bought vegetable broth, though! It'll be just as tasty :)

 

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy.