Creamy Wild Rice and Veggie Soup

Creamy Wild Rice and Veggie Soup

Makes enough soup for 8-10 meals for two people

3 cups uncooked wild rice (Rice Select - Royal Blend Whole Grain Texmati brown and wild rice with soft wheat & rye)

1 teaspoon bouillon jelly or 1 cube veggie bouillon

1 bunch celery

2 leeks

2 lbs carrots

4 potatoes

Water

1 quart of half and half

Salt to taste

Step 1: Cook the wild rice in a separate pot from the rest of the soup.

1.       Follow directions on rice container for cooking the wild rice.

a.       Don’t add salt or butter to rice.

b.      7 ½ cups of water and 3 cups of uncooked rice mix.

c.       Pour water and rice into pot, cover pot.

d.      Turn stove top on and bring to a boil, stir once.

e.      Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until water is absorbed.

2.       Once rice is finished cooking, let cool, and place rice in refrigerator until soup is 15 minutes from being finished.

Step 2: Prepare Veggies – Wash and Cut

1.       Wash and cut celery and leeks.

2.       Wash, peel, and cut carrots and potatoes. (Cube the potatoes)

a.       The smaller you cut the potatoes, the quicker they will cook.

Step 3: Boil soup

1.       Use a large pot.

2.       Add enough water to fill pot about half way through.

3.       Place pot on stove top and turn stove top on to medium high heat.

4.       Add bouillon cube or teaspoon of jelly bouillon to water and stir well.

5.       Add celery, leeks, carrots, and potatoes to pot and start boiling.

a.       Most of the veggies should eventually be covered with water

6.       Once pot begins boiling, reduce heat to medium low, adjusting temperature on stove top as it cooks making sure water continues to boil.

7.       Boil for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until all veggies are soft.

a.       The potatoes are probably going to take the longest to cook.

8.       Stir pot every 3 to 5 minutes.

9.       Once veggies are soft, reduce heat to low.

10.   Add cooked rice to pot.

11.   Add your full container of half and half to the pot.

12.   Let cream simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring at least once a minute.

a.       Be careful not to overheat/over cook the cream or it will separate.

13.   Add salt to taste.

14.   Turn stove top off.

15.   If letting soup sit, make sure to stir every 10 minutes.

16.   Store soup leftovers in refrigerator, in an air-tight container.

S'sK Minestrone Soup

*A Sebastian's Kitchen Original Recipe

S'sK Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup kidney beans uncooked (to be cooked separately)

12 cups water

1 teaspoon veggie bouillon jelly or 1 bouillon cube

1 bunch collard greens

1 bunch celery

2 leeks

3 medium fresh organic tomatoes diced

1 large can organic diced tomatoes

8 oz. small pasta

dried oregano to taste

dried basil to taste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Shredded mozzarella cheese for topping on soup

Step 1: Cook kidney beans in a separate medium pot (approx. time 1 hour to 1 ½ hours)

1. Cook kidney beans according to instructions on product bag.

2. When beans are tender, strain from pot and rinse under cold water.

3. Store beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator until recipe calls for beans to be added to soup.

4. Need more bean cooking help? Check out my how to boil kidney beans post here.

Step 2: Veggie prep
1. Wash collard greens.
    a. Cut off large center stems/veins of collard greens.

    b. Chop collard greens leaves. Set aside.
2. Wash and cut celery and leeks. Set aside.
3. Wash and dice fresh tomatoes. Set aside.

Step 3: Soup

1. Turn stovetop to medium-high heat.
2. Add all the water to a large pot.
3. Add veggie bouillon jelly or cube to water and stir well.
4. Add collard greens, celery, and leeks to water. Stir frequently.
5. When water begins to boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes stirring frequently.

6. Add freshly diced tomatoes and canned tomatoes and continue stirring occasionally.
    a. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

7. Add pre-cooked kidney beans to pot.
8. Add oregano, basil, salt, and pepper to taste.
9. Soup should start smelling and looking done. All veggies should be soft by now. Calculate how long the soup still has to cook, when you have about 10 minutes left, add the pasta.
10. Add small pasta to soup and continue to boil until pasta is cooked. Stirring frequently to prevent pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
11. Once pasta is cooked, soup is done and ready to serve.

12. Pour soup into serving dish and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.