For Chance: Deborah Madison's Quinoa Soup

I was going to type this out for Chance, but I am a lazy girl, so I found it on the internet.

This blogger tries all sorts of interesting things. Here is her take on Madison's quinoa chowder. Note that she uses chicken stock while Madison uses water.

3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed well in a sieve
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno chile, diced and seeded (or use a teaspoon of crushed red pepper like I did)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (Or season to taste. I used more because I love cumin)
salt and pepper
1/2 lb. boiling potatoes, cut into 1/4" cubes
7 cups chicken stock
3 cups finely shredded spinach
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, including about 1 inch of the green part
1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 lb. feta cheese, diced
1 hard boiled egg, chopped

Put the quinoa in 2 quarts stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, chop your vegetables and cheese. Drain the quinoa when it's done and reserve the liquid. You should have about 7 cups of liquid, add more stock if necessary..

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and chile (or chile flakes). Cook for about 30 seconds, then add the cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and potatoes. Cook for a few minutes but don't let the garlic brown. Add the quinoa stock and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Add the quinoa, spinach and remaining scallions and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the feta and cilantro. Season with pepper and garnish with chopped egg.

Madison has a variation of this recipe in her soup cookbook in which she adds corn to the soup.

Deborah Madison is one of the best cookbook authors out there. Everyone knows that, right? She has a wonderful palate and her recipes are well-tested, which is not always the case. Her masterwork is Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The only problem with this tome is with the index, which is useless. If you find something you like or want to try, put it on a sticky note; otherwise, you may never find it again. My copy was a gift from my in-laws many years ago.

The corn variation is in this book:

I take out a library copy of that one every now and again. It's good, but not indispensable as the other one is.

And, sorry Chance: I wouldn't make it in a rice cooker, though you probably could.