Sweet Potato, Corn, and Quinoa Soup

A less yellow picture because I still love, LOVE, LOVE this soup and make it frequently!  

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Back in October while I was in Fort Wayne, I went to a small natural food store. They had a delicious soup with sweet potatoes, corn and quinoa. I gobbled it up and declared it the soup I would make this winter.

It's winter.

I have now made this soup three times. It might be my new favorite.

Soup is one of those things that just doesn't require a lot of measuring. I know, I never measure, but really this soup is all about the proportions YOU like of sweet potatoes to corn to carrots to broth. I'll try to make up some general measurements for you though, in case you need them.

Those are the ingredients.

WHAT?!?!!?!? You have never had quinoa?? You have yet to live!


From Wikipedia: quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

The basics: quinoa is good for you and more nutritious than say, white rice or pasta.

Quinoa is becoming more readily accessible in your corner market. If you're at a Kroger, it's usually with the organic food a top shelf item near the pasta and couscous. Whole Foods has it in the bulk foods section so you can get just enough to try it out.

I start with a soffritto: onions, garlic, carrots and celery (which I didn't have for this batch) diced and softened in olive oil. I then peeled and cubed the sweet potatoes. I add the sweet potatoes to the soffritto and cover the entire mixture with broth. I use enough broth to cover all the veggies with an inch on top, it's usually about a box and a half. Once the sweet potatoes are soft I add in the frozen corn. I'm special so my corn came from my parent's garden last summer. You could probably purchase a bag at the grocery store, but it might not be as good. (;

Next you add the quinoa. I used a little over a cup and dump it in.

After letting the soup simmer for 10 minutes I check on the progress.

See how the centers are opaque? It's not ready.

After about 20 minutes:

See how the germ and seed have started to separate? The little circle springs away from the center and then it's ready to eat. The longer your soup sits the more liquid the quinoa will absorb, so you could add some water or more broth if you want to keep it "soupy." Taste and season that baby with some salt-n-pepper.

I like to throw in some fresh parsley for a little green in this predominately yellow soup. I forgot to buy that at the grocery store, so I threw some frozen chives on top.

And served it with a day-old cheddar biscuit from Parker and Otis. DELICIOUS!

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Sweet Potato Soup

• 1 onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• carrots diced, I use baby carrots since I like buy a big bag, probably around 1 cup of diced carrots
• 2-3 ribs of celery, diced
• 3-4 sweet potatoes, cubed
• 2 boxes veggie or chicken broth
• 1 bag frozen corn
• 1 cup quinoa
• salt-n-peppa
• fresh parsley