Smoky Vegetable-Quinoa Soup

I've been eating a lot of vegetable soup lately, once in a while with some sort of small pasta, but I've never made a soup with rice or quinoa before, so I figured it was time. (P.S., I've discovered that I definitely don't like zucchini or other squashes in my veggie soups.) In browsing through my spice drawer to see what I might feel like using, I noticed a bag of sample chiles I had received from Marx Foods a while back but keep forgetting about. Ancho chiles are the ripened and dried version of a poblano pepper, and they have a bit of a smoky flavor to them, so I thought that would be a good choice - I was right. I used a whole chile and ran it through my spice mill, but you might find it already ground in your grocery store's spice or international aisle.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic

2 large carrots

3 stalks celery

1 large onion

1 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

1 t black pepper

1 ancho chile, choped into pieces and ground (stem removed)

1 bunch spinach

1 can diced tomatoes

32 oz chicken broth (or other broth/water - may require additional)

1 c quinoa

2 c chopped green beans

2 c corn

1. Mince the garlic, and dice the carrots, celery, and onion, then saute in the olive oil until the onions start to turn translucent.
2. Season with the salt, pepper, and ancho chile.
3. Slice the stems off the spinach and slice into ribbons, adding to the pot and stirring until completely wilted down.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, and quinoa, and allow to simmer until the quinoa starts to bloom.
5. Once the quinoa starts to bloom, stir in the chopped green beans and corn and continue to simmer until the beans are tender.
6. Garnish as desired - I always like a sprinkle of Parmesan on vegetable soup, and I had a few stray scallions in the fridge, so I tossed on a handful of those as well.

Because the quinoa will suck up a lot of the broth, you may find that you need to increase the broth - or add some water. I like my soups to be more about the veggies than the broth, so the 32 oz carton was plenty, but when I go back for leftovers, I might find that more of the liquid has been absorbed and might increase the liquid when re-heating.