When garlic is cool, simply squeeze the heads and the cooked garlic will pop out.
Place all of the garlic into a blender and discard the peels.
Cut the white part from the leek.
Save the green part for another use.
Cut the white part in half lengthwise and in half again.
Wash leek in lots of clean water.
You may need to change the water a couple of times.
Place clean leek into a colander to dry.
Place oil into a hot pan.
Add leek to the pan; cook and stir over medium heat until leek is soft and just starting to brown.
Remove leek from pan and place in blender with garlic.
Add 2 cups of vegetable stock to the blender and puree the leeks and garlic together.
Add wine, thyme and pepper to the pan.
Reduce wine over medium heat until it is almost dry.
Pour the garlic-leek puree into the pan.
Add a little vegetable stock to the blender and use it to rinse any excess puree into the pan.
Peel potato and cut into medium dice.
Cut carrot and celery into medium dice.
Add cut vegetables to the pan.
Add remainder of the vegetable stock to the pan.
Bring liquid to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer.
Simmer the vegetables for 25 minutes.
Cut asparagus into one inch pieces, discarding the tough stems.
Add the asparagus and quinoa to the pan and simmer for another 25 minutes.
Taste soup and add a touch of salt if needed.
Soup is ready to eat at this point and will thicken over time as quinoa plumps in the broth.
New Taste Thinking:
This time of year we are awash in glorious garlic here in California. As you have noticed this recipe calls for four whole heads of garlic! When you make this recipe you will find that the soup is not screaming garlic, in fact the garlic flavor is mellow and subtle. This is a result of steaming the garlic. Once steamed the garlic looses its sharpness and becomes a new ingredient. This ingredient is used to thicken and add a creaminess to this dairy free soup, while still adding a sweet garlic flavor.
