I love to make soup out of whatever I might happen to already have on hand. If you have a good broth and a few veggies, you can certainly come up with a dinner worthy meal. In this soup, I used the last of my wild rice. Wild rice is a wonderful grain; it’s chewy and adds great color. In this wild rice and vegetable soup I used what I had on hand for vegetables including onion, celery, carrot, and spinach.
Flavoring a simple soup takes 2 key steps. First you have to start by sauteing the aromatics. Aromatics include vegetables like onion, celery, and garlic. Sauteing them releases a lot of flavor that will be the base of the soup. The second key step comes at the end. You should add fresh herbs and a splash of acidity to finish the soup and add brightness to the flavor.
Variations to the Wild Rice and Vegetable Soup:
- I used a rice blend that included wild rice. Most country blend rice mixes will be just as good.
- Sweet potato would be a great substitute for the carrot, and kale or chard would work in place of the spinach.
- Use whatever quality broth or stock you have on hand. Taste how salty the broth is and adjust the added salt as needed
- 1½ cups wild rice blend
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- splash olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 TBS sherry wine or white wine
- ¼ tsp red pepper flake
- ½ tsp oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp thyme
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 4 cups water
- 3 cups cooked white beans (or 2 cans rinsed and drained)
- 5 oz cut spinach
- ¾ tsp salt, or as needed
- 3 TBS fresh parsley, minced
- 3 TBS cider vinegar
- In your rice cooker, or a small sauce pan, cook rice according to package directions (40-50 minutes).
- Meanwhile, in a large stock pot or dutch oven, saute onion and celery in a splash of olive oil until tender. Add garlic through thyme and saute 1 more minute.
- Add broth through spinach and simmer 20 minutes.
- Stir in wild rice. Taste the soup and add salt as needed. Simmer 5-10 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in parsley and vinegar.
I made this tonight and it was so good! I added some chopped sweet potatoes and they were a great addition. I also substituted kale for spinach. Thanks so much for the recipe. It will become a regular in our house.
Bailey, thanks for commenting and letting us know you enjoyed the recipe! I love the swaps you made, sounds delicious!
Sounds warming and delicious. I like that I have all of the ingredients on hand. I’ve never thought of putting wild rice in soup, it would really help make it a heartier meal.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us at Healthy Vegan Fridays.
I’m pinning & sharing! Hope you’re having a great week =)
Thanks for hosting!
Looks wonderful and nutritional!
Thanks Lin! It was very filling too!