Tomato and White Bean Quinoa Soup

I love soup this time of year and I'm always looking for new recipes.  I generally prefer broth based soups that have lots of vegetables and thought this Tomato and White Bean Quinoa Soup looked interesting.  I'm so glad I tried it because it's now my new favorite soup.  It was rich and hearty, but super healthy and made a huge pot so we had lots of leftovers.  In fact, I think it was more flavorful the next day.

Tomato and White Bean Soup with Quinoa (Adapted from The First Mess)

1 cup dry beans soaked overnight and drained (I used navy beans)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 bay leaf
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 sprigs thyme, leaves chopped fine
1 sprig rosemary, leaves chopped fine
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 quarts vegetable stock
2 cups diced vegetables (I used zucchini, green beans, and more celery)
1/2 cup quinoa, soaked (or rice or millet or small pasta etc etc)
5 sprigs of parsley, leaves chopped fine
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a big soup pot over medium. Add the onions and cook until they soften up just a bit, about 5 minutes. I kind of like to stew the onion in the oil for a while so that it gets really soft and blends right in with the soup. Add the celery and bay leaf and cook until the celery softens, another 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and rosemary. Cook until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.


Add the tomato paste and stir continuously until paste is broken up and its flavour is cooked out, about 5-7 minutes. Add the beans and tomatoes and stir to coat in the tomato paste mixture. Add about 1/2 cup of the stock and scrape the bottom of the pot to get any browned bits up. Add the rest of the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until the beans soften but still have some bite, about 2-3 hours or more.  Add the quinoa and stir.  Cook for 10-15 minutes and serve.