Hearty Kale, Lentil & Quinoa Soup

From Mairlyn Smith's The Vegetarian's Complete Quinoa Cookbook 

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes
Serves 8
Freezes well

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, scrubbed and sliced into 1/2" coins (I chopped all my vegetables in the food processor to fool my family... good thing they like thick puree soups)
2 small parsnips (I had a couple just sitting in my vegetable bin)
1 celery stalk, diced
2 tsp garam masala (I used Epices de Cru Masala Grill Blend)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
5 cups water
1 can (28 oz/794 g) diced tomatoes (but since my family has tomato issues I used Muir Glen Crushed Fire Roasted tomatoes)
1 cup dry brown lentils (since I didn't have any on hand, I used split green dal - or ... lentils), well rinsed and drained
1/2 cup quinoa, well rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh Kale, thick stalks removed and leaves chiffonade
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1. Prepare all the ingredients to simplify the actual cooking.

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic carrots and celery (and in my case parsnips) and saute until slightly softened (about 5-10 minutes).

3.  Stir in the garam masala, cayenne pepper and bay leaves.  Mairlyn suggests rubbing the thyme and oregano between your fingers to let all the fragrant oils escape.  I, of course didn't read well and just threw them in with the garam masala and let them cook for another minute or two.

4.  Add the water, tomatoes, lentils and quinoa and bring the soup to a boil.   Then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for at least 20 minutes... time for the quinoa and lentils to absorb lots of broth.

Just before serving, stir in the kale and toss for a minute or two until the kale has wilted.  Season with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and serve.