Spinach, ginger and quinoa super-soup recipe
The bonus of this delicious soup is that it’s low in fat and calories, yet it fills you up to make you feel satisfied. The surprising ingredient is quinoa – which enriches and thickens the soup, adding valuable protein and giving an interesting texture and flavour.
Cook’s tip: Cooking the spinach for just a couple of minutes means that it keeps its lovely bright green colour – and means it retains nutrients too.
Ingredients
- 100 g red or white quinoa
- 1 large red onion, chopped
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 30 g piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 l hot vegetable stock
- 200 g young leaf spinach
- 200 g low fat soft cheese
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Details
- Cuisine: Peruvian
- Recipe Type: Soup
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 20 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Rinse the quinoa in a sieve, then put it into a saucepan with a pinch of salt and double the volume of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes for red quinoa and 8-10 minutes for white.
- At the same time, put the onion, leek, garlic and ginger into a large saucepan with the vegetable stock. Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain off any liquid from the quinoa, and set to one side.
- Reserve a few spinach leaves for garnish, then pack the rest into the saucepan with the other vegetables – it will soon wilt. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Puree the soup with a hand-held stick blender, or transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add 150g of the soft cheese and blend again. Stir in the quinoa and re-heat gently. Season to taste.
- Mix the remaining soft cheese with the milk, stirring until smooth. Serve the soup topped with a swirl of the soft cheese mixture, a couple of spinach leaves and a little more black pepper.