Day Four Soup Week: Brown Rice and Asparagus.

This is a variation on a recipe featured on Oprah. Very good.

Hearty, thick, healthy and full of flavor.

3/4 cup brown rice

1/4 cup wild rice

2 teaspoon salt or to taste

1 bunch asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 celery stalks, finely chopped (about 2/3 cup)

1/2 onion, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1 small carrot, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

6 cups vegetable stock

2 tablespoons minced scallions or green onions

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1 teaspoon hot sauce

freshly ground black pepper

Put rice with the salt in 3 cups of water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender and water is absorbed (about 45 min). Trim the ends off the asparagus stalks and discard. Steam asparagus until tender, yet crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain 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 of tips for garnish.

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

Let the soup cool a bit and transfer small batches to a blender and blend to desired consistency. Return all blended mixture to pot. Stir in asparagus, scallions, parsley, soy sauce, hot sauce and ground pepper. Return to a simmer for two minutes. Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved asparagus tops and sprigs of parsley.

Serves 8

*Note: Feel free to skip the blender, if desired. Also, I added some leftover bacon bits and it was so delicious. Use whatever combination of rice you prefer. I added some Rye and used more wild rice and less brown than the recipe called for because that's what I had in my pantry. You just want to end up with about 2 cups of cooked rice. Finally, if asparagus is not in season or if you prefer not to use it, try broccoli.