Quinoa Spinach Soup

What is so special about this soup is the ease with which this can be cooked. I used a pressure cooker to make this soup which helped me cut my cooking time into half. But if you do not have a pressure cooker, no sweat - it can be cooked in a regular stockpot as well. Generally, you will see massive size pressure cookers in an INdian kitchen - one that fits two stacked pots. But I have this handy small pressure cooker as well that I use to cook soups, dals, khichdis etc.

Ingredients and Method:

2 small garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 small red onion
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 celery, diced
2 handfuls of fresh spinach, washed and chopped coarsely
Dash of garlic powder, onion powder, red chilli flakes, Italian seasoning (as per your taste)
1/4 cup quinoa
1 to 1.5 cup cannelini beans (I used red kidney beans)
2 cups chicken broth or veg broth
Feta cheese

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the garlic and sautee till fragrant on low heat.  Add the red onion - sautee until translucent but not mushy on medium heat. (about 3 to 4 minutes)
2. Add the carrots and celery - sautee on medium heat. Sauteeing these veggies before adding the broth brings out flavor of the vegetables (about 3 minutes)
3. Add the tomato and stir. Right away, add the spinach and mix. Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning and mix. Add the quinoa and stir gently.
4. Add a little water (about 1/2 cup) and pressure cook the mixture for about 3 to 4 whistles. Every pressure cooker is different so you will have to toy around with yours to figure out how many whistles it takes to cook it to the perfect texture you want. I do not like mushy veggies in soup!!!
5. When the cooker is ready to be opened, do so and add 2 cups of chicken broth or veg broth and mix. Add the beans and mix. Let it come to a rolling boil and then reduce and simmer for a 5 to 8 minutes until all the flavors blend together. The soup will thicken up due to the quinoa. You can add more water or leave it as is depending on your choice of thickness.
6. Add feta cheese before serving.


Note:
1. Broths are filled wI do with sodium - even the low sodium ones leave a salty taste in my mouth. So one could do half and half - half broth/half water.
2. If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can simply follow the recipe and cover and cook until veggies are tender.
3. I used red kidney beans in the recipe - but I think white cannelini beans would go much better with this soup.