You might as well make this soup in a bathtub and rub it all over your bod with a luffa.
Who knew that “luffa” had two f’s? Not I, not I.
Before I forget, the winner of the MCT Lean vegan vanilla protein powder giveaway is Kathy V! Make sure to email me your shipping info.
Believe me when I say that this right here is one cray bowl of soup. It totally has every food group you’ll ever need in each spoonful: a smorgasbord of veggies, fiberlicious chickpeas and protein-packed quinoa.
But wait. Before I say another word about this soup, I have to tell you something. A student I counseled today lost twelve pounds! Did you hear me?! Twelve freaking pounds in three weeks. I nearly died. I nearly cried. It was like she was my daughter and she had just gotten her first A on an English test. I was so bursting with pride that it nearly spilled all over the table. The priiiiiiide.
At our previous appointment, we had talked about the plate technique and making an effort to include at least three or more food groups at each meal, one of which is always a fruit or vegetable. This helps encourage variety and balance. She made a conscious effort to ditch refined grains and opt for whole ones, along with upping her water intake and not eating out so much (even if it’s an innocent Panera sammie that’s secretly evil).
We talked about not labeling these achievements as a “diet” but rather as a healthy lifestyle. Diets are temporary fixes to lose weight. They don’t work in the long run because they’re unrealistic and unsustainable. That’s why they’re temporary. Eating real, healthy food is not.
We talked about understanding a food label, which is no easy task. The majority of people I work with have never even read a food label. Why would they? It’s not like we’re taught in school how to decode a food label and translate partially hydrogenated oil into the trans fat that’ll kill at least a fourth of us in 50 years. Oh no. We’re too busy studying the Iroquois tribe and memorizing constellations to mess with silly nutrition babble.
Today we talked about my personal mantra, counting ingredients not calories. Now that she knew how to choose healthier options, I wanted to challenge her to start eliminating highly processed foods from her diet. I encouraged her to put the product back on the shelf if it had a big list of funky ingredients. To demonstrate, I showed her a flavored Pringles ingredient list that had thirty trillion ingredients I could hardly pronounce, ranging from artificial colors to trans fat. The truth is that you don’t have to be a scientist to decipher the code. You don’t have to know what every disgusting chemical actually is. The bottom line is that if it sounds like science, it belongs in a lab, not your pantry.
If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. Because loaded baked potato Pringles aren’t food. They’re…. fake flavored potato impostors with some SERIOUS junk in the trunk.
Eeeeek I’ve spent this whole time writing about my fab patient and not this fab soup. I guess you’ll just have to trust me that this is the perfect soup because it 100% is. It’s also super duper easy to make.
Vegetable, Chickpea & Quinoa Soup > loaded baked potato Pringles.
Prep Time:
Yield:
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An easy, flavorful soup loaded with fresh vegetables, chickpeas and quinoa.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp grapessed or olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups green beans, chopped into small pieces (I used frozen)
- 1/2 cup corn (I used frozen roasted corn)
- 4 cups vegetable broth + 1/2 cup water
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (freeze the rest in a baggie for later use)
- 1/4 cup quinoa, dry
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring often. Add garlic and sauté a minute more. Add carrots, celery and italian seasoning and cook 5 more minutes.
- Add thawed green beans, thawed corn, vegetable broth, water, chickpeas, tomatoes, tomato paste and quinoa. Bring to a bowl. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 15 minutes
- Remove lid and raise heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered for 15-20 minutes (or until vegetables are fork tender), stirring occasionally.
- Add spinach and stir to combine. Add salt and season to taste with freshly ground pepper.
Wow! That is so amazing. Congrats on counseling success & congrats to your patient on an awesome job so far. I can tell you are proud, and you should be! As for luffa, I always thought it was spelled loofa so apparently it’s a mysterious word? Who knew. I love veg soup so I am going to have to bookmark this one.
Thanks, Ang! I must say that I thought it was loofa as well…who knew!!
Congrats on your patient! It’s such an incredible feeling to make a difference in someones life! I still remember my first patient I counseled as a student and how happy it made me feel as he met his goals. I’m pretty sure I immediately called my mom : ) So happy to share this profession with people like you!
Eeeeee thanks, Rachael! It seriously feels amazing to know that I made a difference 🙂 I called my mom right after too! SO funny.
Congrats on your patient! It’s such an incredible feeling to make a difference in someones life! I still remember my first patient I counseled as a student and how happy it made me feel as he met his goals. I’m pretty sure I immediately called my mom : ) So happy to share this profession with people like you!
Eeeeee thanks, Rachael! It seriously feels amazing to know that I made a difference 🙂 I called my mom right after too! SO funny.
You had me at “bathe in it” so no need to discuss further 🙂 so great to hear about your student! I absolutely love the messages you impart: ingredients not calories, lifestyle not diet. I think I have the “lifestyle” aspect down pat but still working on the calories aspect. You’d think they come hand in hand but I still think about the fact that 14 almonds = 100 cals. UGH!
You’ll get there, girl! Once you know those little facts (like the 14 almonds), it’s hard to get it out of your head!
You had me at “bathe in it” so no need to discuss further 🙂 so great to hear about your student! I absolutely love the messages you impart: ingredients not calories, lifestyle not diet. I think I have the “lifestyle” aspect down pat but still working on the calories aspect. You’d think they come hand in hand but I still think about the fact that 14 almonds = 100 cals. UGH!
You’ll get there, girl! Once you know those little facts (like the 14 almonds), it’s hard to get it out of your head!
Yum! This looks so good!! Pinning for later 🙂
Thanks, Tara! It’s so perfect for lunches throughout the week.
Yum! This looks so good!! Pinning for later 🙂
Thanks, Tara! It’s so perfect for lunches throughout the week.
Congrats on inspiring and achieving success with your student- what great advice and behaviours to evoke to her- so much better than the cray (best word) jargon all over the media etc.
That soup looks amazing right about now- especially with the gloomy weather urgh.
Don’t even get me started on the cray jargon (love that word) all over the media. I can barely keep up!
Congrats on inspiring and achieving success with your student- what great advice and behaviours to evoke to her- so much better than the cray (best word) jargon all over the media etc.
That soup looks amazing right about now- especially with the gloomy weather urgh.
Don’t even get me started on the cray jargon (love that word) all over the media. I can barely keep up!
You’re right — we hardly learn anything useful in school… I love your emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle rather than a diet, and looking at ingredients rather than calories. Suh simple wisdom that goes on to make a huge difference. Oh, and lovin’ the soup too 🙂
I’m all about the simple wisdom….oh and your vegan pumpkin cookies! Holy YUM.
You’re right — we hardly learn anything useful in school… I love your emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle rather than a diet, and looking at ingredients rather than calories. Suh simple wisdom that goes on to make a huge difference. Oh, and lovin’ the soup too 🙂
I’m all about the simple wisdom….oh and your vegan pumpkin cookies! Holy YUM.
Yeah I could totally get down with this soup! I love your mantra on counting ingredients not calories. No wonder your student is doing so well!
Hahah thanks, Davida 🙂
Yeah I could totally get down with this soup! I love your mantra on counting ingredients not calories. No wonder your student is doing so well!
Hahah thanks, Davida 🙂
This sounds divine :). Soup is SO perfect this time of year. I could probably eat it for every meal and never get tired of it ;).
Generally speaking, do you have a “limit” of the number of ingredients that a product contains for the food that you buy?
Literally all I’ve been eating is soup!! No.stopping.
Just noticed the second part of your comment! I don’t have a certain number of ingredients I stick to, because there’s a difference between having a lot of ingredients that are whole foods versus having a bunch of ingredients that are highly processed and largely preservatives and chemicals. But generally speaking, if it has a long list, I won’t buy it! Often times, the more ingredients something has the more processed it is.
Thanks for your response! I definitely find myself paying more attention to ingredient lists as opposed to looking at nutritional facts/calories/fat content. I think it is the better way to go!
I just came accross your website and am highly excited about all the recipes you have. I have already printed 2 soups I am going to try this week! My kids love soup and that is how I manage to get most of the veggies into their tummies so these will be great and healthy resource!. excited!
This sounds divine :). Soup is SO perfect this time of year. I could probably eat it for every meal and never get tired of it ;).
Generally speaking, do you have a “limit” of the number of ingredients that a product contains for the food that you buy?
Literally all I’ve been eating is soup!! No.stopping.
Just noticed the second part of your comment! I don’t have a certain number of ingredients I stick to, because there’s a difference between having a lot of ingredients that are whole foods versus having a bunch of ingredients that are highly processed and largely preservatives and chemicals. But generally speaking, if it has a long list, I won’t buy it! Often times, the more ingredients something has the more processed it is.
Thanks for your response! I definitely find myself paying more attention to ingredient lists as opposed to looking at nutritional facts/calories/fat content. I think it is the better way to go!
I just came accross your website and am highly excited about all the recipes you have. I have already printed 2 soups I am going to try this week! My kids love soup and that is how I manage to get most of the veggies into their tummies so these will be great and healthy resource!. excited!