Quinoa soup for Fathers' Day dinner

        This past Sunday hosted that nationally recognized annual twenty-four-hour period wherein it is encouraged for sons and daughters to compensate for a year's worth of fatherly neglect and abuse with cards and gifts, hugs and kisses, and numerous "Thank you"s and "I love you, Dad"s. Although I'm pretty sure the only reason this sentimental and cheesy holiday exists is due to an enormous sales scheme by greeting card companies, my sisters and I continue to "buy" into it year after year on the third Sunday of every June. What can I say? It's kind of fun to let the man you raised you know that he's appreciated and admired every once in a long while.
        Okay, so the greeting card companies haven't, in fact, made any money off of my sisters yet; they still draw their cards by hand on folded sheets of white computer paper. I, however, at a whopping eighteen years old, have finally deemed it tacky to continue to craft my own thank-you notes... unless I want to break out the colored card stock and stamps, which require a skill set I can't say I've entirely mastered at this point in my life. This year, being the miserable miser that I am, was the first Fathers' Day on which my dad was actually able to tear apart a lick-sealed envelope and open a store-bought card. It was a whole five dollars and ninety-nine cents, and it was absolutely beautiful-- a red-and-white striped two-dimensional popcorn bucket, overflowing with felt popcorn; it said "#1 POP" on the front, and something "corny" (pun courtesy of Hallmark) on the inside.
         Ironically, purchasing and signing this silly card made me feel like I really had my life together, regardless of the fact that I had to ride my collapsable bicycle to Safeway to buy it the day before it was due, because my car broke down in a turn lane a week ago... I decided to take my newfound togetherness and run with it; I proudly lifted my chin and set to work preparing some food for Fathers' Day dinner.
        I debated for a while over what I wanted to concoct. I had a lot of criteria: it needed to be healthy, it needed to be delicious, it needed to be somewhat sentimental... oh, and I wanted to have left-overs to eat over the couple of days. But after much consideration, it was decided that quinoa soup was the perfect option.
        Quinoa is a traditional Andean grain, and Dad, Cara, and I had eaten quinoa soup while in Peru on multiple occasions. It really made an impression on me in South America as being absolutely, divinely, delicious, and because the soup consists entirely of vegetables, herbs, and protein-rich quinoa, I don't know if I can name a healthier entree...
        I was a bit nervous about recreating the dish at home, but after abundant online recipe searching, I found one that fit the bill designated by my Peruvian expectations at Two Peas & Their Pod. I amended it a little (by tripling the amount of quinoa in the soup, and adding extra fresh basil and garlic) to make it a bit more authentic, and then proceeded to sample and be completely satisfied with my creation.

Peruvian quinoa soup (revised from Two Peas & Their Pod's recipe for vegetable quinoa soup)
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 2 medium carrots (chopped)
• 2 celery stalks (chopped)
• 1 small zucchini (chopped)
• 1 yellow squash (chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh green beans (cut into 3/4-inch pieces)
• 1 box (32 ounces) of vegetable broth 
• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 1 (15 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 6 cups cooked quinoa
• Salt and black pepper (to taste)

Instructions

Step 1: Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook until tender (about 5 minutes). 

Step 2: Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 additional minutes. 

Step 3: Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring often. (Note: Add the veggies quickly, but gradually. It's much easier to stir when the lubricating olive oil has an opportunity to make contact with the ingredients a handful at a time.)

Step 4: Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, cubed potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and basil, then reduce the heat to low.

Step 5: Cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender (approximately 25 to 30 minutes). Step 6: Stir in the cooked quinoa and add salt and pepper.

Step 7: Serve warm and enjoy!

Because this photo is courtesy of Two Peas & Their Pod, the depiction of the quinoa soup may not be quite accurate. My rendition of the recipe entails a bit more quinoa, and also potatoes, so the end result is significantly thicker and more chunky!