A few weeks ago was my Dad’s birthday. He turned the big 5-0 and courtesy of my second job, I totally missed his birthday dinner. Not cool, Erin. Not cool.

So to make it up to him, I decided to make him a super yummy lunch… which just happened to be vegan.  My thought was, if the meal is good enough he would never even realize he’s missing meat or dairy. And really, how can  he miss those things when you have beer pretzels and a Spicy Black Bean and Quinoa Soup, which is chuck full of flavors he loves??

Turns out, Dad had a bit of a surprise for me. Half way through the preparation of my pretzels and soups, he lets it slip that he had a brisket on the smoker. A brisket? As in, smoked cow? yeeeeah…that’s definitely not vegan, Dad! So much for stealthily sneaking that vegan lunch on him. Carnivore-1; Vegan-0

Meat or no meat, this soup is amazing! I’ve made it twice already. I like  dividing it up into 5 servings and taking it to lunch with me for the week.

Smoky Spicy Black Bean and Quinoa Soup

via Whole Living
serves 4 or 5

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
4 cups vegetable broth*
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup quinoa
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce
2 cups cooked black beans
salt to taste
cilantro or daiya cheese to garnish, optional

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat and stir in the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and carrots, cook another 3 minutes. Add in the cumin, chili powder, and oregano and stir to coat.

Pour the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, quinoa and chipotle chile in the pot. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Once the quinoa is cooked, you should see the familiar little quinoa tail, stir in the black beans and salt to taste. Heat until everything is cooked through. Serve garnished with cilantro or vegan cheese. (I only used vegan cheese once or twice. I really like it just plain. It has enough flavor on its own)

*the recipe only calls for 4 cups of broth but the soup really absorbs the broth when you reheat it. I would suggest picking up an extra can or resealable carton of vegetable broth and keeping it on hand so that you can add it to the leftovers before eating.

This soup is also super versatile. I omitted the cumin and replaced the oregano with italian seasoning because that’s what I had and it still tasted great.

I know pretzels and soup sound crazy but it definitely worked. Trust me! It was delicious. 

(PS. Do you like my fancy, ripped paper towel. Someone get this girl some better kitchen props! )