Colca Cañon Quinoa Soup

• Quinoa
• 1.5 cups white quinoa, rinsed in a mesh strainer under cold water for 1-2 minutes
• 3 cups cold water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon vegetarian beef or vegetable broth powder
• Soup
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound bag of frozen chopped kale (or one 10 oz box, defrosted)
• 6 cups vegetable stock or boxed broth
• 8 ounces cotija cheese (OR queso duro blanco), diced and set aside
• 1 small lime, cut in wedges

1. Use your favorite method to cook the quinoa. I dump everything into my programable rice cooker and use the "quick cooking" setting, fluffing it when the timer goes off. rnrnIf you are cooking it stovetop: after rinsing the quinoa put it in a large sauce pan and add the water and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then add the broth powder. Stir and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover and cooker for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat and turn off the stove. After 5-7 minutes uncover and fluff the quinoa as you would rice. rnrnSet aside and keep covered until ready to add to the soup.
2. In your soup pot (4 qt or larger), heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the carrots and onion until soft, then add the garlic. Stir often. Cook until the onion is translucent and just starting to brown (about 15 minutes).
3. Add the stock/broth to the onion mixture in the soup pot and bring up to a simmer.
4. Once the broth is simmering, add the bag of frozen kale and let the soup heat up until it's just starting to bubble around the edges again.
5. Add the quinoa.
6. Turn off the heat and add the diced cotija cheese and serve immediately. OR you can just top what you want to eat immediately with cheese and let it cool before adding the cheese to pint jars of soup (this soup travels well for lunches and freezes well -minus the cheese- too).

quinoa, white quinoa, cold water, bay leaf, vegetarian beef, carrots, onion, garlic, olive oil, kale, vegetable stock, cotija cheese, lime

Taken from food52.com/recipes/23531-colca-canon-quinoa-soup (may not work)