Quinoa, Kidney Bean and Vegetable Medley Soup

During this Lenten season I plan to experiment with some healthy yet tasty vegetarian dishes and for the past few days, I have been trying to garner some time to try this particular soup recipe out. I hope you too find this soup both satisfying and enjoyable!! 

Ingredients 

1 - Onion, chopped 

8 - Garlic cloves 

4 Tsp - Tomato Paste (Refer Notes) 

1 - Potato 

1 - Carrot 

1/2 Cup - Corn kernels 

14 - Baby Portobello Mushrooms 

1 - Green Zucchini, cubed 

1/2 Cup - Cooked Quinoa 

1 Can / 15.5 oz / 440 gm - Red Kidney Beans 

1/2 Tsp - Dried Thyme 

1 Tsp - Dried Parsley 

3 Cups - Water or Vegetable stock 

Pepper to taste 

Salt 

2 Tbsp - Sour Cream 

Serves 4 

Directions

• Heat some oil in a pan and add the Onions, Garlic
• Saute until the Onions are Golden-brown
• Add the Tomato paste
• Add Potato, Carrots and saute for 5 minutes
• Mix in Corn, Mushrooms, Zucchini, Quinoa and Kidney beans. 
• Add 3 cups of water or vegetable stock
• Stir in the dried Parsley and Thyme
• Season with salt and pepper
• Bring the soup to a boil and cook until the vegetables are done.
• Take off from heat and add Sour Cream.

Notes and Tips

• Tomato paste is a thick paste made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce moisture, straining them to remove the seeds and skin, and cooking them again to reduce them to a thick, rich concentrate. In contrast, tomato purée which consists of tomatoes that have been boiled briefly and strained, is a liquid with a consistency between crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. This is available in all grocery stores
• You can add cooked diced chicken
• You can add water or any stock of your preference