Minestrone with heirloom vegetables and red quinoa

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

• 3 Large Carrots, Chopped or sliced
• 1 head garlic (chopped or crushed)
• 3 Tomatoes diced and seeded
• 1 container vegetable stock
• 1 C water
• 2 large purple potatoes cut into small pieces
• 1/2 bunch baby kale
• 1 C red quinoa
• Olive Oil
• Rind of parmigiano cheese (don’t leave this out, it makes the soup)

How to:

Left the peels on the carrots and potatoes to make it a rustic soup. In a stock pot with a drizzle of olive oil, saute the garlic and veggies over medium heat. Approx 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, quinoa, water and rind of cheese.

Simmer over low heat, covered, for approx 1 hour. Remove the cheese rind and add the kale to the pot. Within 5 minutes your kale will be soft and the soup is ready to eat. Top with some additional cheese and pair with a hunk of rustic bread. YUM!