Nourishing Winter Veggie Soup (Print Version)

Warming mix of winter vegetables and quinoa simmered in a flavorful broth for nourishing comfort.

# Ingredient List:

→ Vegetables

01 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
02 - 1 medium onion, diced
03 - 2 garlic cloves, minced
04 - 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
05 - 2 celery stalks, sliced
06 - 1 medium parsnip, peeled and diced
07 - 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
08 - 1 cup chopped kale or Swiss chard, stems removed
09 - 1 cup chopped cabbage
10 - 1 cup diced tomatoes, canned or fresh

→ Grains & Legumes

11 - ½ cup quinoa, rinsed

→ Broth & Seasonings

12 - 6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
13 - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
14 - 1 teaspoon dried oregano
15 - 1 bay leaf
16 - Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
17 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
18 - Juice of half a lemon (optional)

# Steps:

01 - Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add diced onion and minced garlic; sauté 2 to 3 minutes until translucent and fragrant.
02 - Add sliced carrots, celery, diced parsnip, and sweet potato. Cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
03 - Stir in chopped kale or Swiss chard, cabbage, and diced tomatoes. Cook an additional 2 minutes.
04 - Add rinsed quinoa, vegetable broth, dried thyme, dried oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.
05 - Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until vegetables are tender and quinoa is cooked.
06 - Remove bay leaf. Stir in chopped fresh parsley and lemon juice if using. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
07 - Ladle soup into bowls and serve hot.

# Helpful Hints:

01 -
  • It tastes genuinely nourishing without tasting like you're being punished for what you ate last week.
  • The whole thing comes together in under an hour, and most of that time you're just letting it simmer while you do something else.
  • Leftovers taste even better the next day as the flavors settle and deepen.
02 -
  • Don't skip rinsing the quinoa, or you'll get a bitter taste that's hard to fix once it's in the pot.
  • If your broth isn't very flavorful on its own, this soup will taste flat no matter how long it simmers—taste your broth before you add it and adjust if needed.
  • The vegetables should be roughly the same size so they cook evenly; uneven chopping means some things get mushy while others stay hard.
03 -
  • Use a vegetable broth you'd actually drink on its own, because there's nowhere to hide poor quality broth in a soup this simple.
  • Don't cover the pot for the first few minutes while the vegetables soften—you want some of that moisture to evaporate so the flavors concentrate rather than dilute.
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