Fall Soup Recipe: Wild Rice

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Fall is here. Don’t you enjoy the cool crisp days? It’s soup weather. When I worked for a company headquartered in Minnesota, I was introduced to the delicate and woody flavors of wild rice. Did you know that wild rice is harvested by canoeing into a into a stand of plants, and bending the ripe grain heads so the seeds can be threshed into the canoe? As the leaves change color and you reach for a sweater, make a pot of wild rice soup, serve with your favorite whole wheat bread and a mixed green salad for an autumn meal.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup with Chicken

Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 4  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 1  (2.75-ounce) package quick-cooking wild rice (such as Gourmet House)
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1/2  cup  onion, diced
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 1/3  cup  matchstick-cut carrots
• 2  cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1  teaspoon  butter
• 2  (4-ounce) packages presliced exotic mushroom blend (such as shiitake, cremini, and oyster)
• 2  cups  shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper

Preparation

1. Bring 1 1/3 cups broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and next 4 ingredients (through thyme) to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in butter and mushrooms; sauté 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add remaining 2 2/3 cups broth, rice, chicken, salt, and pepper to pan; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.

Mama Lynn cooking notes: Other mushrooms and rice can be used and I substitute 1 strip of Morningstar Farms Veggie Bacon for the bacon to give the soup that deep smoky flavor.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 281 (24% from fat)

Fat: 7.5g (sat 1.9g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.3g)

Protein: 28.9g

Carbohydrate: 23g

Fiber: 4g

Cholesterol: 62mg

Iron: 2.8mg

Sodium: 541mg

Calcium: 42mg

Recipe source: www.myrecipes.com Martha Condra, Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2008

Do you have a favorite wild rice recipe? Please share with us in the comment section.