Garden Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 carrots
• 3 ribs celery
• 15 oz. can kidney beans
• 15 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• Freshly cracked pepper
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 lb. frozen spinach

Directions

1. Finely chop the garlic, and dice the onion. Warm the olive oil in a large pot, then add the garlic and onion. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring now and then, until the onion has softened and turned translucent.
2. As that cooks, wash and peel the carrots, then cut them into 1/4-inch rounds. Wash the celery and slice it into 1/4-inch pieces. Stir the carrots and celery into the pot, and keep sautéing until they are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. While those vegetables cook, rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a wire mesh sieve under cool running water. Drain the kidney beans and rinse them as well. Add the quinoa, kidney beans, diced tomatoes with their juices, basil, oregano, smoked paprika, and freshly cracked pepper, about 20 cranks of a pepper mill, to the pot.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and water, cover the pot, and raise the heat to medium-high. Once it reaches a boil, lower the heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes. It should keep gently simmering the whole time, so nudge the heat up a little if it quiets down.
5. When the 25 minutes are up, the quinoa should look a bit translucent and feel tender. If it is not there yet, simmer it for a few more minutes. Stir in 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach and let it warm through. Taste, then add salt or tweak the seasonings as needed. Serve hot.