This greens and grains soup from Magic Soup will be your new favorite dinner. It is so delicious and so easy to prepare, I can't stop making it for myself. Over the past few weeks, I've had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - sometimes with yogurt added to the tahini sauce (I prefer that addition), sometimes with chopped Kalamata olives and roasted red peppers, sometimes with the recommended pomegranate seeds and sliced almonds. If you take 3 minutes in the morning to select your grain and start it soaking in water for 8-12 hours, you can be eating this nutritious soup in under 30 minutes. Greens and grains soup is endlessly customizable. Choose your grain, cook until tender enough stock to have leftover broth, choose a grain and wilt it into the hot soup, then top with a light but flavorful sauce and any other additions that sound good to you. Don't let its simplicity fool you either - this soup is quite satisfying, without being overly heavy, which makes it perfect for any season. As a bonus, it's easily scalable and stores well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days after cooking.
I made the teeniest changes to this recipe, by adding Greek yogurt to the lemon-tahini sauce and adding extra lemon juice. I like the flavor of tahini, but not all by itself. The lemon and yogurt balance the tahini beautifully, and in my opinion, it's the sauce which makes this simple soup so tasty.
If you aren't in the mood for soup? Easy, just add half the amount of liquid when cooking the grain; they will absorb it all and you'll have a greens and grains plate instead of a greens and grains soup!
Greens and Grains Soup
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups (1 pint ) vegetable or chicken stock hot
- ½ cup pearl barley or other grain, like farro, soaked 8-12 hours
- 5 oz (2 large handfuls/120 g) baby spinach or other leafy green hard stems removed, leaves shredded
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- generous ⅓ cup (86 grams) nonfat Greek yogurt
Optional toppings
- 2 tablespoons almond slivers toasted
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
- or
- 1 roasted red pepper sliced
- 8-12 Kalamata olives pitted
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, add the quinoa and toast for one minute, shaking the pan frequently, until golden.
- Add the hot stock and pearl barley, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until tender, the exact time will depend on your grain of choice. If you pre-soaked the grain, this should take 10 minutes. Otherwise, it will take around 45 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, add the spinach, and leave to sit in hot soup until wilted*. Mix the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, and a little water until it becomes creamy.
- Ladle soup into bowls. Top with tahini dressing and toppings, if using.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
