Cabbage Quinoa Soup

This delicious soup was modified from this recipe at the Traveling Spoon.  It keeps well in the fridge for days and is very hearty.


Ingredients: 
-olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-4-5 cloves garlic, diced
-4-5 organic carrots, diced
-8 cups water
-1/2 head green cabbage, cored and chopped
-1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes (or sub approx. 4 fresh tomatoes)
-1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
-1 bay leaf (optional)
-1/2 pound cooked ground beef or turkey (optional)
-other veggies or herbs (optional--I like to add organic celery)
-salt, pepper

Directions: 
In large stockpot, heat olive oil.  Add onion and garlic, cook until translucent or soft.  Stir in carrots and cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes.  Add water, salt, pepper and bring to boil.  Add the cabbage and reduce heat to simmer until the cabbage is softened, about 10 minutes.  (This time can be used to rinse the quinoa and/or brown the ground turkey or beef).  Stir in the tomatoes, barley and bay leaf and return to boil.  Simmer 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is cooked.  Add the ground beef or turkey if desired.  Enjoy!

Pomegranate Quinoa Salad Recipe

This pomegranate/quinoa salad is refreshing and simple. It would make a nice holiday side dish because it has both red and green in it. Other recipes on the internet call for adding nuts and/or cheese, which would probably be good if those are safe for your diet. This recipe is delicious as-is. Because quinoa has lots of protein its a good dish to share with vegetarians as well.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

- 2 cups water (to cook the quinoa)

- 1 cucumber, thinly diced

- arils/seeds from 1/2 a pomegranite

- 1/4 white or yellow onion, finely chopped

- salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, to taste

Directions:

Cook the quinoa according to package instructions. Chop and combine remaining ingredients. When quinoa cools, add to the other ingredients. Serve cold.

Photo credit: Wiki Commons user Bob_pcc