This recipe was inspired by a delicious soup we enjoyed on our Peru trip in the year 2000.  We visited Lake Titicaca and took a boat trip to Isla Taquile where we hiked into a quaint village to see how the islanders lived.  We stopped at a very small restaurant in this village and loved the green soup that they served.  Dottie Bray, who has traveled with us on many of our adventure trips, sent me her interpretation of this delicious soup.  Heather and I have been working on the recipe with wonderful results and it has become one of our favorites.  We hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.   

LAKE TITICACA SOUP

Servings:  3-4
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
Cooking Time:  40 minutes

¼ cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
4 cups fresh spinach, thinly sliced
freshly ground pepper and hot sauce to taste

Place all the ingredients, except the spinach, in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Add spinach and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Hints:  This recipe can easily be doubled to have some leftovers for the next day.  We like to add some heat to this soup with the addition of some hot sauce before eating.  To slice spinach, stack leaves 15-20 high and slice through all leaves.  Be sure to rinse the quinoa well or it will have a bitter taste.  Quinoa can be found in natural food stores and some supermarkets.

GOLDEN BEAN STEW

We have prepared this stew several times during the past few weeks, with different variations.   We never have enough left over to freeze, but if you do have some left, it may be frozen for later use.  We like this plain in a bowl, over brown rice, or scooped up with baked tortilla chips.

Servings:  6-8
Preparation Time:  25 minutes
Cooking Time:  60 minutes

3 cups vegetable broth
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups baby potatoes, cubed
2 ½ cups cooked white beans
1  8-ounce can tomato sauce
1  8-ounce container prepared hummus
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup crumbled soy sausage (see hint)
1 cup thinly sliced fresh spinach 

Place ½ cup of the broth in a large pot.  Add onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.   Add remaining broth, potatoes, and beans.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and cook for 30 minutes.  Add tomato sauce, hummus, and seasonings.  Cook an additional 10 minutes.  Add soy sausage, mix well, and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in spinach and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Hints:  Soy sausage can be found in natural food stores in many varieties.  Most of them are previously cooked and may be frozen.  Thaw before using in this recipe.  If you have soy sausage that is not cooked, such as Gimme Lean, crumble into a separate non-stick frying pan and brown slightly before adding to the stew.  Most natural food stores also sell prepared hummus.  Or you can make your own by pureeing cooked garbanzo beans with a small amount of broth, garlic, and salt.  If you are using canned beans in this recipe, be sure to rinse them before using.  This may also be made with garbanzo beans instead of the white beans.  If you can't find baby potatoes, use larger red potatoes and chop them into bite-sized pieces.  If you want to use chard or kale instead of the spinach, it will need to cook about 5 additional minutes.

This is a delicious, elegant, yet easy dessert.  It takes just a few minutes to prepare, but everyone loves it!  It keeps well in the refrigerator  for several days.

CHOCOLATE DELIGHT

Servings:  8
Preparation Time:  2 minutes
Cooking Time:  5 minutes
Chilling Time:  3 hours

4 cups low-fat chocolate soymilk
1 ¾ cups couscous
2-3 tablespoons sugar or honey

Place the soymilk in a saucepan.  Heat until almost boiling.  Remove from heat, stir in couscous and sweetener.  Cover and let rest for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Place in a covered bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Scoop into a dessert bowl and top with fruit, if desired.

Hint:  Use fresh fruit in season as a topping, or thaw frozen fruit.  Fresh fruit syrups may also be used.  We especially like raspberries as a topping for this dessert.