recipe: bolivian quinoa soup (sopa de quinua)
when i was in bolivia a few months ago, i was amazed at how many soups used quinoa as the thickening agent. in sticking with the authentic, i vowed to recreate the most basic preparation of quinoa from the motherland: sopa de quinua, or quinoa soup. this recipe uses chicken broth (sorry to all of our vegetarian friends!); vegetable broth could easily be substituted here.
broth:
chicken bones (6 drumsticks or 1 whole chicken carcass would suffice)
1 whole onion, chopped in half (no need to peel)
5 cloves of garlic, chopped in half (no need to peel)
4 bay leaves
1 stalk of celery (don't go overboard)
the peel and top of large carrot (rest of carrot will be used in final soup)
hand-full of whole peppercorns
dash of dried herbes (i use herbes de provence)
fresh parsley leaves (or just take the roots of the fresh parsley that will be used to garnish soup)
salt to taste (rule of thumb: 1 tspn of salt per 1 quart of stock)
soup:
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks on the diagonal
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 tpsn olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
fresh parsley leaves
1 cup of royal quinoa (quinua real, bolivian origin)
bunch of tuscan kale (optional)
broth: made-from-scratch chicken broth is key to creating an authentic sopa de quinua. make yours by filling a soup pot with water and boiling a combo of chicken bones, halved onion, garlic, carrot peel, bay leaves, dried herbs, salt, whole peppercorns, celery, carrot and parsley roots. simmer on medium-low for 2 hours. strain broth, remove chicken and scrape off any bits of meat that can be thrown back into the soup.
to make the quinoa soup, start with a separate soup pot. brown onions and garlic in olive oil on medium-high heat. add dry quinoa to toast. stir for 5 minutes. add enough broth to your liking (i suggest no more than 4 quarts). bring water to boil. add potatoes, carrots and shredded chicken from broth (optional). cook for 15 minutes. quinoa will become super plump and soup will have a thick consistency. (also optional: if you want a green-leafy nutritional boost, add a bunch of chopped tuscan kale. it's not what they'd serve in bolivia but it does make this a one-pot meal.) garnish with parsley leaves.