Friday Foods – Quinoa and Spinach Soup

This soup from A Fork in the Trail  is a hearty and healthy meal at the end of a long, cold day of hiking. You can cook the soup at home and either dehydrate it or pack it into a sealed container to reheat at your campsite. Serve with toasted tortilla wedges or pita bread. 

Quinoa and Spinach Soup

Makes 4-6 servings

3/4 cup quinoa

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small jalapeño pepper, minced

Kosher salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon cumin

2/3  cup new potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 cup carrot, peeled and diced

5 cups vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

3 cups fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup lime juice

1/8  cup fresh or 1 teaspoon dried cilantro

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese (optional)

At Home

Place quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse for at least 3 minutes to remove the bitter coating. Drain and set aside.

Pour oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeño pepper, and sauté for a few moments, being careful not to brown the garlic. Add salt, pepper, cumin, potatoes, carrot, and quinoa. Sauté until quinoa starts to make popping noises. Pour vegetable stock in the pan and simmer for 12 minutes. Then add frozen corn and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes more. Add spinach, lime juice, cilantro, and green onions; cook until spinach wilts. Crumble feta, if desired, and add it to soup. Remove soup from heat and allow to cool.

Spread stew on lined dehydrator trays and dry for 7 to 12 hours or until no moisture remains. If you’re bringing it with you right away, pack it into an airtight container.

Pack dried ingredients in a zip-top container.

At Camp

Add dried ingredients to large pot; pour in enough boiling water to the ingredients in a pot to rehydrate the soup. Be sure to account for and add your dried ingredients to the rehydration container prior to adding the water. You can always add more water if you need to. Let rehydrate for 20 minutes or until fully rehydrated.

Once the soup has rehydrated, heat it through over a stove and serve. If the soup is too thick, add a little more water.

Tips

Even though there is a jalapeño pepper in this soup, it is not spicy. If you want to make it hotter, add some of the seeds from the pepper or use a bit more black pepper.