Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Rice and Veggie Soup





With all the super grains now being promoted everywhere, sometimes it's nice to enjoy good old rice (brown rice of course). Growing up my grandma used to do two amazing dishes with rice - tomato based risotto (with butter too of course) and rice soup. In both the star and the only feature was the rice. I was really wanting some rice soup, but I somehow can never just make a simple dish without adding lots of veggies. So I made this brothy tomato soup with lots of veggies and rice and just a hint of spice. Honestly, it's nothing like anything my grandma made, but it's delicious and very satisfying on a cold "spring should be here, but it's not" day. The photo above was from the day I made it and the photo below was the next night after the rice had absorbed more of the broth. I like a thick soup, but you could always thin it out with more broth when reheating (or add more to begin with).






Rice and Veggie Soup
How I Did It:


1 cup short grain brown rice
2 onions, peeled and chopped
8 carrots, chopped
1/2 stalk of celery, chopped
bunch of rainbow chard, chopped
64 oz low sodium vegetable broth
28 oz diced tomatoes
15 oz cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
5 oz spinach, roughly chopped


1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and then stir in the rice. Lower heat and cover, but leave the lid off a crack to let out steam. Add additional water as necessary until cooked.

2. While the rice is cooking, heat 1/8 cup of water in a large stock pot and add the onions. Cook until softened, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed. Adding more water if necessary, add in carrots, celery, and the chopped stalks of the chard. Cook until slightly softened.

3. Pour in the broth, diced tomatoes, and beans. Stir to mix everything up. Stir in the thyme, oregano, rosemary, and chili pepper. Bring to a boil and then cover and lower heat,

4. Cook until your vegetables are as soft as you want them and then stir in the chard leaves and spinach. Cover and let the greens cook down,

5. Once the greens are cooked down, stir again to distribute and then stir in the rice. Cook for a couple more minutes and then remove from heat and serve.

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