I wish I could take credit for this soup, but it's not my recipe. I nabbed it from bread-and-honey.blogspot.com. I changed a few very small things, but of course, I didn't write them down. You can't go wrong with this soup. It is the ultimate "this will heal you whilst you're sick in bed" soup. I ate 6 bowls of it in one evening. Phenomenal. I added a shake of red pepper flakes and paprika, because I'm Greek and add paprika to everything.
About 8 cups of chicken stock
A heaping plateful of mushrooms, chopped into bite-sized hunks. (we used shiitake, portabella, and criminis)
1 yellow onion, cut in half then slivered
a few cloves of garlic, finely minced
Juice of half a lemon
Brown mustard (something fancy, if you've got it. Stone ground whatever.)
Large handful of fresh spinach
1 cup of quinoa
Fresh Thyme
Hunk of butter (Stacey used Smart Balance)
In a large stock pot, saute onions & garlic with chopped mushrooms. Squeeze in juice of half a lemon, a generous squirt of brown mustard, and throw in a chunk of butter. Stir frequently while sauteing, and when everything begins to cook down and soften, add 6 cups of chicken stock, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.
In another pot cook 1 cup of quinoa in 2 cups of chicken stock. Keep to the side until the end.
To the soup pot, add 2 whole chicken legs (thigh & drumstick, bone-in, skin removed.) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, skimming the soup every so often. When meat is cooked, remove chicken legs, shred meat, and return to pot.
Add cooked quinoa, a handful of fresh spinach, and more mustard and lemon juice (and zest, if you'd like) to taste.
