Make it Now; Save it for Later!

I love the Summer for many, many reasons- of course- but one of them being the plentiful abundance of fruits and vegetables. Right now it is carrot season! (Yes. Among other vegetables, carrots are in season!) And boy are they tasty! There is nothing better then the crisp, clean taste of a recently picked fresh carrot! Mmmmm! But, what to do with them? Yes. You can eat them raw. You can eat them raw until you turn orange (literally!) But, that's boring! (And someone might call you a carrot! haha.)

A friend of mine passed along a recipe to me (as we were talking about quinoa one afternoon!) courtesy of Recipe Zaar. The recipe is below! I (of course) made a few modifications to the recipe AND if I don't say so myself- this recipe is great! (Thank you Sarah (my friend) and recipe Zaar!) I didn't use the beef bouillon cube as recommended. Instead I used my own concoction of non-animal herbs, seasonings, and salt. Also, I extended the simmering time to about 3o-35 minutes to intensify the flavor!

This is a fairly quick recipe. The most time consuming is chopping up the vegetables. Other then that, you can go about your business while it simmers!

The best part is that this tasty soup is now sitting in my freezer awaiting a dark chilly Autumn night where I crave a warm something-or-another but after a long 10 hour work day I don't want to cook! Oh wait! Problem solved! Hit defrost and then cook! Whether you cook this soup and eat it right away or cook and freeze for later, this is a quick, easy meal. Better yet, this is a fresh, quick, easy meal. To me, nothing beats using fresh vegetables. I could wait until the Autumn or Winter to make this soup, but for me, carrots are not in season then. So until Autumn....

Carrot Top & Quinoa Soup
1 tbsp canola or olive oil
1/2 sweet onion diced
4 cups water
4 medium carrots peeled and chopped
1 cup carrot tops rinsed and finely chopped
2 tsp beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup quinoa
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Sautee onions and olive oil in soup pot until onions are translucent
Add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 20-25 minutes