Chicken and Quinoa Soup

The other day I was craving some good old fashioned chicken noodle soup. I have no idea why since it was over 100 degrees outside but for some reason I couldn't get it out of my head. So I headed to the fridge and pantry to see what I could use and this was this is what I ended up with. It was great. Now I personally didn't want to make homemade noodles and I also didn't want to add egg noodles because I wanted it to be able to work for those who are doing the diet that Sam uses for his work. This is a good base recipe for the soup. By all means feel free to toss whatever veggies or whatever tickles your fancy. I just personally wanted mine nice and basic. Enjoy!
(BTW aren't my photography skills amazing 😂😂😂)

olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. cooked shredded or diced chicken
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried parsley (I would have used fresh if I would have had it)
2 Bay leaves (make sure you fish these out before eating)
49.5 oz chicken broth (use your favorite, whether its homemade or store bought)
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed very well

Heat the olive oil in a big soup pot. Add all the chopped veggies (make sure they are all the same size) and cook a 2-3 minutes until they are almost tender. Add the chicken and spices, along with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium-high for 2-3 minutes more to let the flavors start to come together. Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then turn it to low and let simmer. The longer you let it simmer the more the flavors will develop in the broth. Add rinsed quinoa the last 15-20 minutes of cooking. Pull out the bay leaves and adjust seasonings if needed. *At this point if you don't like the look or taste of all the dried herbs floating on top you can skim them off and either add some fresh herbs or leave it be*

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ I personally was to hungry to let my soup simmer for to long so I believe I only simmered mine for about 15 minutes before I added the quinoa to it.
~ I will definitely use fresh herbs next time, although the dried work just fine. I just love fresh herbs.
~ You could do so much with this simple base recipe. Add beans, lentils, zucchini, corn, etc. The possibilities are endless!