Brown Rice & Vegetable Soup

The countdown is on until we begin our holiday.  In 2 days time we will be boarding our flight to the United States.  We will be spending 6 nights in Las Vegas, 8 nights in New York and then we have a 5 day stop over in Fiji on the way home.  To say I am excited is an understatement!  In fact I am so excited I can barely think of anything else, even cooking!

Admittedly, cooking is a little difficult at the moment as we are trying to run down the contents of our refrigerator and pantry before we head off.  I find so much inspiration in an abundance of ingredients, that when you have few fresh ingredients around the inspiration tends to falter a little.  However, on Sunday, perhaps brought on by the bitingly cold weather, or perhaps because I know holidays tend to mean over indulging, I was struck by a sudden need to make a simple brown rice and vegetable soup.  In fact, I almost felt in a relaxed trance as I hovered about the kitchen chopping ingredients and stirring the soup pot, and smiling down at the colourful array of vegetables that I was trying to use up – carrots, green capsicum, mushrooms, tomato, green and purple cabbage.  Then, once the soup was done I felt completely content.

The soup was just what I wanted.  Delicious, wholesome and oh so comforting.

So, I will leave you for the next 3 weeks with this recipe for this Brown Rice and Vegetable soup.  When I return I will have LOTS of photos of our travels to share with you.  In addition, I have been given access to take photos inside a pretty special restaurant.  I can’t wait to share it with you!

Bon Appétit and see you in 3 weeks!

Brown Rice and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 2  1/2 litres of vegetable stock
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 cups of chopped mushrooms
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 green capsicum (pepper), chopped
• 2 cups of shredded cabbage (I used a mixture of purple and green)
• 3/4 of a cup of brown rice
• 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary,chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, to serve

Method:

1. Place a large pot over a medium heat.  Add the olive oil, onion, celery and garlic and cook  until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the rosemary, tomato, mushrooms, capsicum, cabbage, salt and pepper, and carrot, as well as the rice and cook until the cabbage begins to soften before adding the vegetable stock.
3. Simmer and cook until the rice is softened.
4. Stir through the fresh parsley to serve.