The inspiration for this recipe comes from the ‘Sacred Valley’ high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru at a restaurant called ‘Blue Magic’ in the village of Ollantaytambo. It was one of the BEST bowls of soup I have ever had and has been on my mind (or tongue?) ever since.
This is vegetarian, but would readily work as a ‘chicken’ version as well. Feel free to use chicken stock and add chicken/turkey.
Note that the carrots, celery & zucchini were cut lengthwise into long strips, then cross cut into pieces less than 1 inch long. Why? Because that’s how I remember the prep in Peru! Would likely be as effective to just slice into pieces. Your choice.
INGREDIENTS
4 T SOOC Persian Lime Olive Oil
4 T SOOC Honey Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar
12 C homemade vegetable stock (or quality store-bought) About 1 C will be used to cook the Quinoa separately.
1/2 C (100 g) of quinoa (I used tri-colour)
1 medium red onion sliced thinly then cut into quarters
4 cloves of garlic mashed & minced
1″ to 2″ of ginger peeled and minced
6 small/medium carrots (1 bunch) ‘strips & cross-cut’
3 stalks celery ‘strips & cross-cut’
1 t sea salt
1 zucchini (about 8″ to 10″) ‘strips & cross cut’
1 bunch green onions White parts sliced thinly, (green parts sliced about 1/4″ to 1/2″ and reserved for later)
1 bunch washed Cilantro, about 1 C chopped (not too heavy on the stems) but keep some sprigs for garnishing
1/2 C fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
DIRECTIONS
Cook quinoa according to directions in VEGETABLE STOCK and set aside
Put SOOC Persian Lime Olive Oil in a large stockpot and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Begin adding the vegetables in the order above, up to the white parts of the green onions. Saute about 2 minutes after each addition (you may also want to drop heat as you move to the ‘softer’ vegetables). Add salt anywhere during this sequence. Add SOOC Honey Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar and about a cup of broth, saute another 2 minutes deglazing the pot as needed.
Add your remaining broth to the pot and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce to simmer, add the reserved quinoa, lime juice and simmer for 10 minutes, turn off the burner, add the chopped cilantro and the green onion tops. At this point you can eat it OR cool it off and eat later – soup is ALWAYS better when the flavours meld together with the temp changes. Reheat and add some fresh chopped cilantro to the bowls as served.
For variation, you can use SOOC Caribe Coconut White Balsamic instead of the Honey Ginger Balsamic (this was ‘Mark 1’ and was also delicious), use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock and add shredded or diced cooked chicken at the end of the saute stage.
It is a light and refreshing soup, the recipe makes about 12 servings and is under 150 calories per serving.
