Minestrone Rice Soup

Over the weekend a cold front came in and the temperature dipped below freezing so I decided to play it up since there probably won't be much of that left now that it is spring. Soup seemed like a good option and I had minestrone in mind. I ended up buying a bunch of random ingredients at the store to just wing it...but ended up forgetting the noodles so I decided on using rice instead! I also was going to make it vegetarian but Josh convinced me otherwise so we made mini turkey meatballs and added some in (we used the rest for our lunches for the week). I'm sticking with the vegan version for this recipe though since that was how I had originally planned to make it. Feel free to add your own meat if you want though! I love soup but hate how it is always full of so much salt! I like making it myself because I know what all goes in it and can control the salt content. The flavor from all of the different veggies made this soup delicious without all of the salt! 

​Servings: 4
Prep/Total Time: 60 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, chopped
• 2 large carrots, sliced into thin rounds
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1/3 cup quick cooking brown rice
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• 1 14 oz can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 8 cups vegetable broth, no salt added
• 1 head of kale, stemmed and chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Add the oil to a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion, carrot and celery and keep stirring and cook until soft - about 10 minutes.
2. Add in the mushrooms, rice, garlic and herbs and saute for about 2 minutes. 
3. Add the tomatoes, beans and broth and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Add the kale and the salt and simmer another 5 minutes until kale has wilted. ​