Sunday, January 11, 2009

another round of sunday soup-pers

While not to bore you with two recipe posts in a row (am I turning into Betty Crocker?) I have to admit I'm a sucker for creamed soups. They're not the healthiest choice, by far, but they sure do taste good. I found a recipe for wild rice soup on somebody's blog yesterday - nobody I know, just one I stumbled upon in scrapbook land - and decided to make it for dinner tonight. I'll post the recipe with my adaptations (and I'll mark them with an *) because, quite frankly, it was looking & tasting rather bland before I got to my fantabulous finished project.

Wild Rice Soup

*1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice (cooked according to package directions)
½ cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup ham, diced - I think I used more than a cup
1 cup flour
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
*1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon (give or take)
*1 T. parsley (I really just dumped in whatever I felt like)

1. Cook rice according to package directions, to get 3 cups cooked rice, if you use the non-boxed kind. (I used Uncle Ben's because it was going to take about 45 minutes to cook the other wild rice I had and I didn't want to wait that long.)
2. While rice cooks, melt butter in a heavy stockpot. Sauté vegetables in butter for about 5 minutes, or until softened.
3. Add ham.
4. Add flour a little at a time to mixture, stirring until well blended and flour forms a stiff roux; do not brown.
5. Slowly add broth; stir until well blended and thickened. Cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are as soft as desired.
6. Add rice.
7. Just before serving, add half-and-half and heat thoroughly; DO NOT BOIL after half-and-half is added. Salt and pepper as desired.

--Makes approx. 8 servings.

The Uncle Ben's and the bouillon gave it a much needed flavor boost and probably the parsley too, although I tend to just like little green floaty things in my soup! ha. I think this could easily be adapted for chicken instead of ham, but the ham was a nice change. And the crusty bread is nice for dipping :)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Word. I can't WAIT to try this.

So glad you caught your name on the chalkboard. I'm pretend-having-you-over-for-dinner! See, you're a winner in my book, drawing or not.

Love you, friend!