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Wednesday 16 July 2014

Tomato and Quinoa Soup


I love adding quinoa, aka the super high in protein wonder grain, to my boring cans of tomato soup but today I decided I was going to go one step further and make my own tomato soup! The soup takes around twenty minutes to make, meaning it's a quick, easy and healthy dinner.

Ingredients
(serves two people)
50g of quinoa
10 decent sized tomatoes
canned tomatoes
garlic puree

olive oil
seasonings

You will also need a blender or food processor. 

Before putting the quinoa to cook I recommend you soak it in water for at least five minutes to get rid of the dirt taste and soften it. Then place in a pan with boiling water, put the heat on medium and leave to cook for fifteen minutes.

In a saucepan heat up the olive oil, I use a garlic infused oil to add more flavour, vegetable or sunflower oil can be used as a substitute. 

Whilst the oil is heating up chop the tomatoes into small chunks and add to the saucepan. After a few minutes add the canned tomatoes. Bring it to the boil and then simmer.

Once the tomatoes have boiled blend them so there are no big chunks of tomato and then return to the saucepan. Then add the garlic puree and seasonings. I used chilli powder, basil, oregano and a pinch of salt, but you can use any ones you like. Heat until it is a desirable temperature, I like mine 'scald your tongue' hot. 

The quinoa should be ready by now; drain and add to the tomatoes. I recommend using a fine sieve and putting a sheet of kitchen roll over the bottom before you drain the quinoa as it is very small and likely to fall straight into your sink! 

Stir the quinoa and tomatoes together and then serve. I served mine with garlic toast and a salad. 


I'll definitely be making this in the future and using the leftovers for lunch in the coming days. I'm also going to use quinoa in another soup recipe in the coming weeks so keep your eyes out for it!