Quinoa Soup with Spinach and Corn

This soup is one of our favorite recent recipe discoveries. I’m happy to say that it came in its original form from another food blogger I recently discovered. I have been enjoying Nicole’s blog, Cucina Nicolina, and this soup attests to her culinary sensibility (I love fawning over other food blogs--you guys are endlessly inspiring!).

You know quinoa is good for you, right? It’s an ancient grain, a superfood, a complete protein and all that jazz. But none of that would be any comfort at all if the stuff wasn’t so delicious. I’ve been making steamed quinoa for a couple years now as a side dish, usually a pilaf. This is always very good, but I’ve never enjoyed quinoa as much as I do in this soup.

This recipe is for a very big batch, and I don’t recommend scaling it down. Not because you can’t, but because you’ll want a lot of this soup to eat for lunch, for a quick leftover dinner, whatever. A lot of liquid is required here because quinoa is like a sponge that never tires of soaking up anything in its wake. You’ll notice the soup continue to get thicker in the days after you make it. Just add a bit more liquid to get the consistency you want, or eat as is and enjoy the luxurious thickness.

The first time I cooked this soup, I thought it would need something more to add richness and substance, so we topped it with poached eggs. While this is really delicious and is vital to other soups such as this one, you just don’t need it to make the quinoa soup complete. The particular quality of starchiness in the quinoa thickens and enriches the broth enough on its own.

I know I’ve written about nothing else in this post but soup, so I’ll try to wrap it up quickly. Mike and I LOVE it. We’re not vegetarians, certainly not vegans, but we couldn’t ask for more than a bowl of this. Try it with the Honey Spelt Bread in the previous post. And by the way, it’s done from start to finish in under 30 minutes, and that’s if you’re fairly lazy about it.

Quinoa Soup with Spinach and Corn
Adapted from this recipe at Cucina Nicolina
I prefer chicken broth (especially Swanson’s low-sodium or Whole Foods regular), but you can certainly use vegetable broth if necessary. This soup is easy to play with, so add any dried or fresh herbs, or seasonings that sound good. If you really want to speed up the process, you could cook the mushrooms in a separate skillet while the quinoa is simmering.

Serves 7-8

2 tbs. olive oil, divided
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (use white, Portobello, or a combination)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large red or white onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 3/4 cups quinoa
8 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
2 cups frozen or fresh corn
12-14 oz. spinach leaves
2 tbs. soy sauce

Heat 1 tbs. of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the water they release nearly evaporates, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until lightly browned and soft. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pot and heat to medium. Add the onions, season and cook until soft and browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 minutes more and add the chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then add the quinoa. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Uncover and add the water and corn and return to a simmer. Add the spinach leaves a few handfuls at a time. Add the reserved mushrooms and soy sauce. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors, taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as needed. Serve as is, or with a poached egg on top.

Vegetable-Barley Soup with Poached Egg

In my last post, I mentioned that we have been into healthy, comforting meals in the hopes of balancing out the holiday decadence. This is one of those recipes. Upon looking at the ingredients and method, you'll see there's nothing exotic here--but wait, the simplicity is deceptive.

This delicious soup is truly greater than the sum of its parts. It can be made effortlessly any night of the week. Once you've chopped onion and garlic, sauteed them along with some mushrooms and relaxed while the barley cooks in just 15 minutes, you'll wonder if you forgot something--it's just too easy, you'll say.

After you stir in some fresh spinach at the end and ladle the hot soup into bowls, it's time for the big finish--crowning each portion with a gently poached egg. Cook the eggs for a mere two minutes so the yolks remain soft and creamy enough to add a totally luscious quality to your soup. Honestly, this is unexpectedly good even without a poached egg, but with it--you'll want to eat this every night.


Now you have the perfect quick, satisfying meal for the crazy weeknights ahead when you don't want something too heavy, but you don't want to feel in the least bit deprived. It came from the November issue of Gourmet by the way, which also provided recipes for this beautiful Cranberry Crostata and another quick dinner we really liked (but didn't put on the blog), Sauteed Calamari with Bacon and Lemon Quinoa.

So, have you started doing any holiday baking yet? I did today--so much good stuff to blog about, I can't wait! We got our Christmas tree too. I love decorating it and going through all my ornaments, some that I've had since I was a baby. And I officially know it's the holiday season because Mike made his hot cider-rum drink with cinnamon--I could knock those back all day! So what are everyone else's favorite December traditions, whether you celebrate Christmas or not?

Vegetable-Barley Soup with Poached Egg
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, November 2007

Serves 4 as main course

1 tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
pinch dried marjoram (optional)
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (such as Muir Glen)
1 qt. vegetable broth (such as Swanson’s Organic)
1 cup quick-cooking barley
6 oz. spinach leaves
1 tbs. white vinegar
4 large eggs

Add the olive oil to a large saucepan and heat to medium. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook until mushrooms are soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and marjoram and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes and vegetable broth; raise heat and bring to a boil. Add the barley, season with 1/2 tsp. salt and ground pepper to taste; cover the pot and reduce heat to maintain a brisk simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until barley is tender.

Meanwhile, fill a large skillet with water, about 1 1/2 inches deep. Bring to a brisk simmer over medium heat. Add the vinegar. As soon as the soup is finished, you want this skillet to be ready for the eggs.

When barley is tender, stir the spinach into the soup and cook for 1 minute. Check for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle soup into shallow bowls, and immediately add the eggs to the poaching water by cracking the eggs, one at a time, into a ramekin or small bowl and gently tipping each one into the poaching water. Cook for 2 minutes and transfer the eggs directly into each soup bowl using a slotted spoon. Serve right away.

If you want to check out the round-up of posts for November's Sugar High Friday where the theme was beta-carotene, here's part 1 and part 2. Look for my All-In-One Holiday Bundt Cake among the delicious entries.

Salmon with Chiplotle-Honey Glaze and Cinnamon-Scented Couscous

This dish came to be because we wanted to eat something quick and healthy on a Saturday night. Usually, Saturdays are reserved for the more indulgent and labor-intensive of recipes; however, we had plans to eat out at a very tasty restaurant on Sunday evening, so taking it easy was a wise choice.

Paragons of moderation that we are, I came up with this dead easy glaze for baked salmon that turned out to be even better than I had hoped. Seriously, the whole time we were eating, I couldn't shut up about how delicious the fish tasted. Sometimes I turn into a broken record when I'm really enjoying my food; thankfully, Mike just nods and keeps chewing.

The idea for the warmly spiced couscous with dried fruit, pine nuts and scallions came from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat, but I kept this one very light with just a dab of butter that you could actually leave out if you wanted. It is one of my favorite couscous dishes in recent memory. Maybe it's not really all that healthy because you will want to eat more than just one serving.

Rounded out with steamed kale quickly sauteed in a little olive oil and tossed with lemon juice, salt and pepper, I thought this was the perfect colorful healthy plate. The wonderful thing is that it tasted as flavorful and delicious as any meal we would usually cook on a Saturday night.

Salmon with Chipotle-Honey Glaze
Serves 2

Nonstick cooking spray
2-6 oz. salmon fillets, skin on
salt and pepper
3 tbs. honey
1 canned chipotle chile, seeded and chopped, plus 2 tsp. of the sauce from the chile can
1 tbs. lime juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle the salmon with salt and pepper, place skin side down on the baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the honey, chipotle chile, chile sauce and lime juice together in a small bowl. Taste and add more honey if you want it sweeter, or more chipotle sauce if you want it hotter.

After 13 to 15 minutes or when the salmon is three-quarters of the way done (depending on thickness), take the baking sheet out of the oven and drizzle the chipotle-honey glaze all over the fish. Continue baking for 5 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily and is cooked through. Spoon any excess glaze that has collected on the foil over the salmon and serve. If the salmon skin sticks to the foil, gently remove the flesh to the serving plates and no one will have that extra piece of skin left when they are done eating.

Cinnamon-Scented Couscous
Inspired by a recipe in Nigella Lawson's How To Eat

Serves 3-4

1 ¼ c. water, chicken broth or vegetable broth
½ tbs. butter
¼ tsp. salt
1 c. whole wheat couscous
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ c. dried currants (raisins or cranberries would also work well)
1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
2 tbs. pine nuts

Bring the water or broth to a boil over high heat. Add the butter and salt. Add the couscous while continuously stirring with a whisk or fork. When the liquid returns to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest setting and add the cinnamon, cumin, currants, scallions and pine nuts. When all the water is absorbed, cover tightly and remove from heat. Let the couscous steam for at least 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and serve.

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