Chicken Quinoa Soup

As I was in a mild panic trying to figure out the classic question at our house: "What's for dinner?" I thought I'd make some chicken and quinoa and have a side of veggies.  The problem, though, is that it had done some rain/snowing today; and between a constant stream of toddler tantrums and not feeling very good, I needed some comfort food. Namely soup. So I started to change my plan for chicken noodle soup, only to realize I didn't have any noodles.  ... People do chicken and rice in soups, right? Why not quinoa? I decided to do something dangerous, and experiment. If you've ever eaten at my house (or just know me in general) you know that my experiments are very hit and miss. The marvelous inventions I dream up in my head don't always make it through my fingers into the same thing.  Matt, and Jaden were relieved that this was one of the hits instead of the misses. ;)

Chicken Quinoa Soup

2 C. quinoa (any kind would work, but I used white quinoa) 2-3 medium Chicken breasts, diced 1 1/2 C. shredded carrots 1/2  yellow onion, diced 3 medium red potatoes, diced 1-2 stalks of celery, diced 1 C. baby spinach 4 C. chicken broth 1 1/2 C. cream (this is optional, but it's REALLY good) Olive Oil 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. pepper 2 tsp. garlic salt 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (optional) (I prefer to dice everything into pretty small pieces, but it'd be good as a more chunky, hearty soup too.)
Cook your quinoa and set aside. (I used chicken broth (not included in the 4 C.) instead of water to add flavor to the quinoa. You don't have to, but I think it helps blend all the flavors together.)
Saute onions in the bottom of a soup pot with a little bit of olive oil for about 5 minutes or until tender.  Add diced chicken and season with salt, pepper, garlic salt and Cajun seasoning. Continue to saute until the chicken is cooked through. Add carrots, potatoes, celery and olive oil as needed. Saute until vegetables are tender. Pour Chicken broth in, and add quinoa. Bring to a low boil.  You'll need to temper the cream/milk before adding it to the soup so that it doesn't curdle. There are two options for doing this. 1- Place the cream in a separate sauce pan, and heat on low-medium, stirring constantly, to 194 degrees F, before adding it to the soup. The cream will be hot, but not boiling.
2- Temper the cream by placing it in a separate bowl, and slowly adding about 1/2 C. of your soup to the cream while stirring constantly. Once the cream and soup have been mixed, the cream will be heated from the soup and will be safe to add to the entire pot.
Serve hot, (with rolls!)