The Soup 

We had this soup on hand for our home-birth team to eat during Mala's extended labor. Our birth assistant liked it so much, she started making it for her family, and they call it "Madrone Soup."

about 4 T. coconut or olive oil (this is the only fat, so we’ll sometimes use more)
1 large onion chopped
4-6 cloves garlic chopped
4-6 carrots (4 if large, 6 if medium) chopped
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 pinches saffron
1 tsp. allspice
3 reg. cans of garbanzo beans, washed and drained
6 cups veg. stock (we use “Better Than Bouillon”)*
¾ cup quinoa, uncooked
one medium bunch of kale (we usually use regular but have used Lacinato/Tuscan) washed and torn into bite-size pieces

In a soup pot, heat olive oil on medium-high, then add onion and carrots. Sautee for about 10 mins (until the onions start to become translucent), then add garlic and sautee for another minute. Add all spices and stir well, then add beans and stir well again so everything’s coated. Add the stock and quinoa and cover. Turn temp to medium-low to simmer for about 45 mins (you want the beans to be fairly soft, so however long that takes on your stove).

Remove from heat and pull out the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Give it a good stir, then add the kale to the top (don’t stir in) and replace the cover. Let sit off the heat until the kale has steamed—it should still be bright green. Then stir in the kale and serve. (If you keep the soup on the heat to steam the kale, the kale will overcook and get mushy.)

*We don’t add salt because the Better Than Bouillon has plenty. If you use an unsalted stock, you’ll want to salt the soup to taste.

This soup will lose some broth once it’s refrigerated or frozen—you can just add more stock.