Slow Cooker Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Fall is crock pot season in my house! Last week I posted the lentil mushroom soup, and I have another slow cooker soup for you today. I’m sure there will be many more through fall and winter. It’s just so easy to throw everything in, let it simmer all day, and have dinner ready when I get home from class!

For today’s soup, I started off by trying to convert this kale and quinoa minestrone from Cooking Classy into a crock pot recipe, but ended up tweaking the ingredients a bit a long the way. The result was awesome! It tastes fresh and light, but the beans and quinoa fill me up. I’ve had it for lunch every day this week (and sometimes dinner too!). It’s a big recipe, so you might want to make a half-size version if you’re not as into leftovers as I am.

Ingredients
2 medium onions, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carton (32 ounces) vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 lime, juiced (or half a lemon)
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
generous grinding of black pepper
——————-
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
3 cups kale, roughly chopped

Fill your six quart crock pot, with all of the ingredients above the line. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

If you’re watching your sodium intake, you can cut it down by using low-sodium vegetable broth, no-salt added tomatoes, and either low-sodium canned beans or your own slow cooker beans.

Add the kale and uncooked quinoa and cook for 30 - 60 minutes longer, or until the quinoa is fully cooked.

Serve with saltines or oyster crackers (my personal favorite!) and enjoy!