You say tomato...I say soup.
I love having soup from
scratch waiting in my fridge for me when I finally get home and cozy. My mom
would always make HUGE pots of chicken noodle, potato leek, minestrone, or
chili, so that we could ladle a little into our lunches for days.
As the soup thickens over time, you can just add more h2o or
broth and voila! I also think the flavor gets better after a few days, while
each ingredient marinates in the liquid into a hearty fusion. This soup is reminiscent of that
tomato alphabet soup you may have had as a kid, except it’s so good for you.
The savory flavor comes from miso instead of salt, plus those floating bits (which aren’t
as fun as letters), arrree a protein packed super food! I’ve been
thinking about dunking a slightly burned gooey gruyere grilled cheese in my
leftovers all day, but when I initially made the soup, I had a salad dressed in elderberry Dijon dressing;
inspired by Superfood Kitchen.
TOMATO QUINOA SOUP:
(QUINOA; the butt of so many hippie jokes, right next to granola. Let em' laugh...they're missing out. Many people think quinoa is a grain, but it's actually the seed of a vegetable. The seed has about 11 grams of protein per half cup and contains all 8 essential amino acids. It also has a good amount of vitamin E and vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. It's the most guilt-free "comfort food" you could imagine.)
(MISO PASTE; Besides the fact that it tastes so salty, I love miso because it has a ton of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins (B-12). Yellow & white miso are the most mild, brown is medium, and red is the strongest most potent of the flavors. For this recipe, I used brown rice miso.
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup tomato paste
6 cups water
1 cup uncooked quinoa
3-4 cups chopped mixed veggies of choice
3 tablespoons brown miso paste
DIRECTIONS:
Add 5 cups water to the tomato paste in a blender and pulse
just enough to incorporate.
Pour into a large pot and turn the heat on to medium
Add quinoa and veggies and bring to a boil. Keep on a low
boil for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked through and the veggies
are tender.
Meanwhile: Pour remaining 1 cup of water and miso into
blender. Pulse quickly.
Add the miso mixture to the pot and remove from heat. Serve
HOT! I put chopped avocado on top.
If you dig spicy, add some sriracha or cayenne pepper like
me.
(Word of advice: Don’t overcook the vegetables! The
chewiness from the broccoli and quinoa are such a good texture contrast to the
broth).
KITCHEN SINK SALAD WITH:
PICKLED ONIONS: (chop 1 medium sized
onion, put in a jar with 2 cups apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp. sea salt. Shake
vigorously for a minute. Strain and keep onions in a sealed jar)
MULBERRY DIJON DRESSING:
Put into blender:
2/3 cups dried mulberries
3 T dijon mustard
½ cup apple juice (OR coconut water. Sounds weird, but it
was perfect)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
I added some avocado and ground flax seed!
(Why mulberries? Mulberries are considered a top anti-aging berry and have a super high concentration of RESVERATROL, which fights radicals in your body that cause inflammation. They're also one of the few fruits to have a level of protein worth noticing.)
P.S. My brother visited me yesterday :). He even brought me eggs from home.
