Chickpea Quinoa soup with Veggies

Written By Praveena Gudipati on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 | 10:34 PM

The chilly weather and my stuffy nose :-( is making me crave for a warm, hearty soup. So I went thru my pantry and my refrigerator :-) to find ingredients for my soup. I'm an impulsive cook. Even though I love to plan and organize, my heart always takes over my mind and I end up cooking something unexpected. This time my nose took over, of course:-):-).

So the journey thru my groceries made me find a can of Chick peas. The next thing that comes to my mind is Chick pea Veggie soup. Few veggies I always have on hand are Spinach, Carrot and tomatoes. So thats what I made the soup with. Oh! Wait I have also added something healthier to the soup. It's Quinoa. It adds some flavor and gives texture to the soup. Also adding quinoa will make the soup a complete meal in the bowl ;-). To spice up the soup I used Cumin seeds, Pepper n Cloves. When you have a stuffy nose, Pepper would work like magic. You can substitute pepper with Jalapenos if you prefer.

This Soup is very simple and so forgiving. You can customize this easily according to your taste buds. You can use any other beans in place of Chick peas. You can add more quinoa to the soup to make it a meal. You can puree it at the end and feed lil kids.You can add more veggies if you like.You can add vegetable stock to the soup in place of water and I highly recommend it. Today I do not have it at home and I didn’t have time to make it. So I used water.

I served Garlic bread on the side with soup. Coz my kids love it so I thought I could persuade em to have soup along with bread. The idea worked with my lil one. I dipped bread into soup and also mashed chick peas to feed him and he liked it.

You can serve any bread of your liking on the side. May be grilled cheese sandwich will go perfect too. Try my cheesy chutney sandwiches or Croissanwich recipes. All these are easy to make.So have this warm , comforting soup with sandwich or a salad for lunch or dinner or even make it for a party.You can make it a day ahead and store in refrigerator.

Servings:
Four (4)
Total time:
25 minutes
Category:
Salads/soups/stews
Author:
Praveena Gudipati

Ingredients: (I use US standard measuring; 1cup=8oz=250ml)

1 cup Garbanzo beans cooked(I used canned chickpeas)
2 cups spinach
1 carrot
1/2 onion
2 Roma tomatoes
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp Quinoa or more
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp ground Pepper
Vinegar ( Optional)
3 cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp turmeric

Chick pea Quinoa soup with Veggies Step-by-Step Recipe with Photos

Chop carrots into small pieces.Chop spinach into thin strips.
Chop onions finely.
Chop tomatoes finely.
ground cumin seeds,cloves into powder and keep aside.
Take 2 tbsp olive oil in a vessel. Add a bay leaf. When oil is heated up, add onions. Cook for 3 minutes. Add carrots, cook for 3 more minutes. At this point onions are transparent.
Add other veggies at this point if you prefer, like celery, Zucchini etc.
Add tomatoes and quinoa. You can add more or less quinoa as per your preference.
Add 1.5 cup water. You can use tomato paste in place of tomatoes, for creamier texture.
Now cover vessel and cook on medium flame for 15 minutes. Quinoa will be done at this point. Quinoa is done when you see white sprouts (looks like) appear from the grain.
Now mash 3 tbsp chick peas and add rest of them to the soup. Also add mashed peas to the soup. It will make soup lil thicker.
Add salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, cumin clove powder, turmeric and add about 2 cups water.
Now boil soup for 5 minutes. Add spinach to the soup.
Cook couple more minutes till leaves are wilted.Turn off stove.
Serve hot soup with garlic bread or Sandwiches or any other side dish. You can drizzle vinegar on top and also more pepper if you want it spicy.