Quinoa and Lentil Vegetable Chowder

It was early in the week and we had not had time to do a proper grocery. Fortunately there are vegetables in the house (there almost always is) and a few growing outside. We always have garlic and vegetable bouillon cubes and that is all you need for a soup base. Here is what we created from what we could find. Not the prettiest dish but it tasted good and was filling.

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• vegetable bullion cube
• celery, 4 stalks if home grown, 1-2 stalks if from the store (we also chopped up the leaves and added them. 
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup of cauliflower,separated into florets
• 1 cup of red lentils (other lentils work fine but take more time to cook)
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt

What to do:

1. Add the 4 cloves of garlic to a large sauce pan with the olive oil. Saute on medium until the garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown slightly. Don't let the garlic brown too much or it will taste burnt. 
2. Once the garlic is cooked, add about 1/2 a cup of water to stop the garlic from frying further. Stir in the bullion cube so that there are no large clumps. Add about 5 cups of waer and set to high heat. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and boil until the vegetables, lentils and quinoa are cooked. Remove bay leaf and enjoy :)