Food and Home
Brown Rice Soup with Asparagus
Recipe created by Rosie Daley
From the show Recipes to Remember
Serves 8

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Brown Rice Soup with AsparagusThis soup is chunky and thick with vegetables and rice so it can stand on its own— with no real need for a side dish. And it's healthy!

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup brown rice 1/4 cup wild rice
2 teaspoons salt or to taste
1 bunch asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 celery stalks, chopped fine (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 onion, chopped fine (about 1/3 cup)
1 small carrot, chopped fine (about 1/3 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
6 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons minced scallions or green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon natural soy sauce (such as tamari)
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Garnish
Parsley sprigs

Put the rice with the salt in 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 45 minutes.

Trim the tough ends off the asparagus stalks and discard. Steam the asparagus until tender yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain it in a colander, then rinse under cold water. Let the asparagus cool for a few minutes. When completely cooled, cut into 1-inch pieces, reserving 1/4 cup of tips for garnish.

Coat the bottom of a large pot with the olive oil. Add the celery, onion, carrot and thyme. Cover and cook over low heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the vegetable stock and cooked rice and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool a bit.

Carefully transfer small batches to a blender and blend until smooth. Return all the blended mixture to a pot. Stir in the asparagus, scallions, parsley, soy sauce, pepper sauce and ground pepper. Return to a simmer for 2 minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved asparagus tips and parsley sprigs.

Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
I usually use a combination of wild rice and brown rice for this soup. It is sold together and you can find it at any grocery store, or mix your own. You may discover that you have some rice on the shelf that you haven't cooked yet and making this soup gives you an opportunity to use it up.
To Cook Brown Rice: If you want to use plain brown rice, cook 1 cup rice in 2 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of salt and olive oil, for 45 minutes. Or, use leftover cooked rice (you'll need about 2 cups; just skip the first step of the recipe in that case). If asparagus is out of season, or if you don't want to use it, you can use broccoli and make this soup a year-round favorite.

Nutritional information: 108 calories, 2.3g fat, 0.3g saturated fat (18.8% of calories from fat), 2.6g protein, 19.7g carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.4g fiber