Cannellini bean, leek and baby spinach soup with quinoa
This is such a calming, simple, fresh soup recipe inspired by allrecipes.com. Well, I mean, soup is calming isn’t it? It’s difficult to eat soup in a excited way unlike say, fried chicken or pizza for example where crumbs tend to fly everywhere. This soup is especially therapeutic though.
This is the type of soup you might crave after you’ve been ill, if you’ve had a busy, stressful day or if you just feel like a healthy meal.
It’s a very subtle tasting soup, meaning it doesn’t hit you in the face with any strong flavours, rather, it has more of a full bodied, smooth flavour adding to the fresh taste of spinach, the wholesome texture of quinoa and the creaminess of cannellini beans.
You could use your own home made vegie or chicken stock, I have done this in the past and it did add a whole other dimension to be honest, but for a quick, easy meal it’s not absolutely necessary (purists might disagree though and I respect that). I do use a good bought stock, mine is vegetarian based and all natural.
Recipe:
30ml extra virgin olive oil
3 leeks, sliced thinly (click on link below on how to prepare leeks)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tspns cumin seeds (crush or leave whole)
4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken stock
2 400g tins organic cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup quinoa
150g baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
Saute leeks, garlic and cumin seeds in olive oil over low heat until softened and fragrant but not browned, about 5-10 minutes. Add the vegie stock, cannellini beans, seasoning and bay leaves and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and stir in the quinoa. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Take pot off hotplate, remove bay leaves and stir in spinach. Serve immediately.
This soup keeps in the fridge for a day or so (I usually keep some for lunch the next day).
Serves 4
BlogLovin'
I’ve never cooked with quinoa, I really, really, really must give it a try
Looks great! I love the greens with beans and grains!