Quinoa & Tomato Soup

Earlier this morning, I decided to make a tomato soup out of the overripe roma tomatoes from my Mother's garden. Seeing how I'm still on my super diet, I substituted the rice for quinoa. Traditionally, we make tomato soup with rice to give it some substance but quinoa is a nice alternative not only for the texture but it adds protein to a simple soup.

Ingredients
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
10 to 12 overripe roma tomatoes
salt
pepper
2 cups boiled water
2 small onions, diced
1 sweet green pepper, chopped
1 hot green pepper
canola oil
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon                                                                           
3 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 half of lime

Cooking Instructions

1. In a small sauce pot place the quinoa and water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid closed.

2. Meanwhile, place roma tomatoes, garlic clove, salt, pepper and the boiled water into a blender. Puree.

3. In a large soup pot heat the canola oil and brown the onions and peppers. Add the seasoning and stir well.

4. Add the tomato puree to the pot and let boil down until most of the water is evaporated. This should take about 10 minutes.

5. Squeeze in the lime and gently add the quinoa to the soup pot. Give a stir.

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• High in dietary fiber
• High in iron
• High in manganese
• High in potassium
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 296 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  112 Calories from Fat  41

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  4.6g 7%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  32mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates  16.0g 5%

Dietary Fiber  3.5g 14%

Sugars  5.4g

Protein  3.4g

Vitamin A 29% • Vitamin C 82% Calcium 2% • Iron 19%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet