Before we get to this incredible soup, there are a couple things I need to get off my chest.
1) Eric and I have lots of nicknames for each other. Two of our favourites are: ‘Pinky’ and ‘The Brain’.
Remember that show?
Depending on the day, we fight over who is Pinky and who is The Brain.
2) When we are trying to decide what to do at night or on the weekends you can often hear us say to one another,
‘Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?’
‘The same thing we do every night Pinky, try to take over the world! muhuauha’
3) We also have a special voice just for Sketchie. You may have heard it at the very end of the video on Sunday.
Eric said (in Sketchie’s squeaky voice), ‘Not impressed’.
We are totally normal.
Last night, Eric said I could be ‘The Brain’ because I whipped up this amazing soup.
I turned Eric, a former non-soup lover, into a soup lover in just over 10 years.
Never say never… ;)
Holiday Soup For The Soul
This is hands down one of my all time favourite soups! Not only does it look festive just in time for the holidays, but it tastes incredible and warms the soul. It packs a wide array of seasonings and spices from cinnamon, nutmeg, and vegetable bouillon, to the saffron and curry. Somehow it just all works together magically!
Inspired by Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.
Ingredients:
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup red quinoa, uncooked
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube (not low sodium)
- 6 cups water, boiled
- One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1.5-2 cups cooked black beans (about one 15oz can)
- 1 tsp good-quality curry powder
- Pinch or two of cinnamon
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves, well rinsed and roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Pinch of saffron threads (optional, but tasted amazing)
Directions: Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the chopped sweet onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the chopped carrots, chopped zucchini, and minced garlic, and continue to sauté for about 5-7 minutes.
Place your bouillon cube into a medium sized bowl. Boil 6 cups of water and pour over the bouillon cube. Stir well to dissolve. Add bouillon mixture, tomatoes, red quinoa, black beans, and spices + seasonings. Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the roughly chopped spinach, stir well, and cover. Simmer on low for about 15-35 minutes. The longer you cook it the more the flavours will develop. Taste test and adjust seasonings if necessary. I also have a feeling this soup will be even better the next day! Garnish with nuts of choice if preferred.
Makes about 8-10 cups.
Gather up the troops!
This recipe requires a bit of leg work, but the outcome is so worth it!
It took me about 30-40 minutes to prepare (plus cooking time) and that was including my photography, so perhaps a bit less time for you. ;)
These ingredients will keep any seasonal cold at bay!
I really enjoyed the zucchini in this soup. You can add in any veggies you want though.
Chop the onions, carrots, and zucchini…
Caramelize the sweet onion in the olive oil.
Add veggies.
Add everything else…diced tomato, spices, bouillon mixture, quinoa, etc.
I also decided to add a pinch of saffron threads!
I was so glad I did because the saffron tastes amazing in this soup. It is optional though, so not to worry if you don’t have any.
Simmer for about 20-30 minutes or so.
Garnish with toasted nuts if desired.
Serve in a huge bowl.
Eric said, ‘This is the best soup I have ever tasted!’
This soup is not only festive looking, but it is packed with nutrients, extremely flavourful, and perfect for cold and flu season.
I must go now. A chilly outdoor run followed by hot holiday soup awaits me… :)
Ok spill the beans. Do you have any nicknames for your significant other or is there a nickname that your friends or family call you?
We also call each other ‘Snoops’ and ‘Babe’, among other things. ;) I also used to call Eric ‘Snitzlefritz’ and he HATED it, so now I only call him that when I want to annoy him. So about 6 times a day.
Please tell me we are not alone. I will sleep better at night.
looks delish!
& only about a million (names that is lol)
Schatje (me… dutch for treasure or honey), lieverd (dutch for darling)
him: babes, honey bun(ny), monkey bum, PITA (pain in the A$$), babycakes, mijn liefde (my love)
I am sure there are more lol, you are normal ;o)
love PITA…hahaha
haha I love this post. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think you and Eric are too cute! I didn’t notice the end of the video so I had to watch it again (and enjoy it all over again) and crack up at the gag reel. My cheeks hurt from laughing. :)
LOL we do the same pinky and the brain stuff when we’re trying to figure out where to go, also! We don’t argue about who is the brain and who is pinky, however, and so since my man can’t argue otherwise, I’ll just say that’s because I’m the brain ;) But we also call each other “polar bear” and “penguin” which is all too convenient around Christmas time because there’s polar bears and penguins all over the place. (Good thing I’m just writing this in a comment, cause he reads my blog and he’d probably be embarrassed that I’m telling people this!! hahaha)
Haha my entire family has weird nick names for each other and voices for all the pets. Totally normal :)
I think soup is a acquired taste – I wouldn’t touch it until last year!
Not current, but an ex and I used to call each other “Kitty” and “Boo” from Monsters, Inc. L-A-M-E. :)
This looks/sounds amazing!! I’m going to make it asap! :) My boyfriend and I are “Re” and “Shlee.” His name is Jeffrey, and growing up his cousin couldn’t pronounce his full name so just said “Re,” and it’s stuck with his family. Same for me – My name is Ashley and for short, I’m called “Shlee.” It’s just perfect that it rhymes.
I call my husband Mr. Chipmunk or Chipmunk. Can’t remember how it started…. Our two cats have MANY nicknames but they are most often referred to as “the monkeys”.
Great soup recipe, can’t wait to try it!!!
Our cats are Pinky and the Brain! Well, actually their names are Ariadne and Chelsea, but Ariadne gets to be the Brain and Chelsea is Pinky. And yes we do the voices. We also have voices for our friends cat too….
Yes it’s all totally normal!
My nicknames for my fiance and his for me are:
* Babe (baby, babylala)
* Monkapoo (Monk, Monka, Monkers, Monkabutt, Monkey) … ;) this one has gotten out of hand
* He calls me “Sunshine” every now and then
* Stinker (in a cute way, not because either of us stinks!)
* He calls me “Numnut” once in a blue moon but I don’t like it & smack him for doing so!
…..im sure theres more but I can’t remember!
Hahaha love this post! You definitely are not alone – nicknames for my husband and I are Nuzzlehead and Buzzy – both names turn into all sorts of renditions such as nuzzy buzzy, hunny buzzy, buzzy wuzzy, nuzzle baby, the list goes on! :)
Oh goodness, I have so many nicknames! I don’t really have any for my boyfriend. But he calls me AV (anarchist vegan). I’m definitely not but he thought I looked like a super flower child when we met. I am also “little one,” “pixie” and “pea.”
My boyfriend calls me “Pie tin” even though I insist that I am only a “pie” and not a tin. He has threatened to propose marriage by saying “will you be my pie tin?” because he knows I will have to say yes, thus forever committing myself to pie-tinniness.
I needed a holiday soup for a dinner I’m having on Thursday, and then this showed up. It looks amazing!
pie tin??? *swoon
My dream nickname right there. or vita mix.
I sort of get the humor, but I adored this “He has threatened to propose marriage by saying “will you be my pie tin?” because he knows I will have to say yes, thus forever committing myself to pie-tinniness. ” SO ADORABLE!!!! <3
My sisters call me Goober and Goo for short. My husband and I are boring, just the normal honey, although I do call him Honey Bunny, but not it public ;0)
So it IS possible! My husband is also a soup hater, so it’s nice to know that in 7 years he might like it. I’ve been making slow cooked meat and adding more and more water and veggies, hoping he won’t notice that it’s actually stew… then i’ll start taking out the meat… moo hoo haha!
We call each other “schmoop”, but only when we’re alone.
Around other people, it’s “baby”, “sweetie”, or “hon”. Mostly “babe”, though.
That soup looks INCREDIBLE. We’re having a temporary warm flash here in Vegas, but things will be cooling down next week. I love to make (and frezze) huge batches of soup all winter long.
Oh my husband and I totally do this. “Babe” happens a lot as well as “pookie.”
Ok the cheesiest has to be when he comes home and I get super excited. I yell “Boy!!” and he gets a big grin and yells “Girl!!” Yeah, we’re all crazy. ;)
I love that you are both so excited to see each other! – Boy! Girl! is adorable.
Nicknames? Sort of. It’s more that we’re developing a shared language, in which we have weird nicknames for inanimate objects. But we have approximately seven badrillion nicknames for our cat. She probably doesn’t even know what her real name is. We have a voice for her, too. It’s something of a put-upon British duchess voice, if you must know.
This soup looks fan-freaking-tastic. And I have some saffron I’ve been wanting to use for something!!
Now I’m going to have the Pinky and the Brain theme song in my head for the rest of the afternoon…
That soup looks so good! Confession: the Husband calls me Grandma.
Oh yeah, I confirm, you are completely normal! (I used to love that show by the way, in French Pinky was call Minus, and The Brain was Cortex, I still remember the song). You don’t want to know what we call each other sometimes :)
I’ve just had dinner, but this soup makes me want to have a second one!
oh my Cortex sounds even more refined!!!
my dad calls me kater alligator and my grandparents have always called me katiebeth :)