detox soup-winter vegetable soup with quinoa & greens

Well, it's over. The holidays came, we all ate and drank in total excess and now it's time to get ourselves back on track. As much fun as it was - the wine, the chocolate - it's time to kick start your metabolism and wake your body from it's sugar and alcohol induced slumber. This soup is a great way to do that. It's also a great first step towards your goal of being able to do up your pants again. That's good, right?

This detox soup is full of greens, vegetables, legumes and whole grains so it will fill you up and provide you with all of the nutrition you need. It also aids in healthy digestion. That's important. The key here is to use baby greens so that, rather than boiling all of the nutrients out of them, you can drop them into the hot soup right before serving, keeping them as vibrant and fresh as possible.

I suggest making a big pot of this and eating it for a couple of days. You'll feel like a new person.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion - minced

2 cloves garlic - minced

1 carrot - peeled and diced

2 stalks celery - peeled and diced

3 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 cup white wine or water

1/2 sweet potato - peeled cubed

1/2 butternut squash - peeled and cubed

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup red lentils - rinsed

1 can chickpeas - rinsed and drained

1 stalk rosemary

2 stalks thyme

vegetable broth

4 cups of mixed hearty greens (baby kale, baby chard, spinach etc)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast or grated parmesan cheese

salt & pepper

Method

1. heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and herbs. cook until vegetables are slightly tender - 3 mins or so.

2. add tomato paste and cook until it turns a deep red colour - 4 to 5 minutes.

3. add wine or water to deglaze the pot, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom.

4. add chickpeas, squash, sweet potato, quinoa, stock and lentils. cover with vegetable stock.

5. season with salt and pepper and bring the soup to a boil. once it boils, reduce the heat and allow the soup to cook on a simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked

6. remove from the heat and add nutritional yeast (or parmesan) and greens.

7. season to taste with salt and pepper.