Soup Sundays

In my post of last Friday, I rambled on a bit about how January seems to be a good month to try out some new soup recipes.  In the comment section, Tami (500 Dollar Tomato) suggested all of us who are interested share a soup recipe on the weekend so we'd all have the opportunity to try it in our own kitchens.  (Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly what she said.  I admit I'm kinda putting words in her mouth.)

What say we try to post a soup recipe (one of our own favorites or something new we've stumbled upon) every Sunday for the month of January?  Just imagine all the new, yummy soups that could end up as keepers in our recipe boxes!

I know it's not January yet (however, watch out, 'cause it's approaching on waxed sleigh runners!), but I'll kick off Soup Sundays by posting this soup I made yesterday.  It's adapted from the More-with-Less Cookbook, Suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world's limited food resources.  I tried the recipe once before but wanted to tweak it a bit before giving it another go.  And lo and behold, I actually took the time to write in the book the changes I wanted to make so throwing it together was fairly simple.

Guess I'll deem the revised recipe a resounding success because even Mr. I-Need-Meat-to-Stay-Strong (aka Papa Pea) said more than once how hearty and flavorful his bowlful of soup was.

I used homemade turkey broth (thanks to that big, ol' turkey carcass at Thanksgiving time) and I'm sure that added part of the good, rich taste.

Don't tell my hubby (we wouldn't want him to get overly excited) but I'm going to add some chunks of turkey meat to the ample amount of soup we have left.  Ham or crumbled bacon would also be very good.

So here's my recipe for Vegetable-Rice Chowder.

* * * * * * * *

VEGETABLE-RICE CHOWDER

1/2 cup rice, uncooked (I used white Basmati)

5 cups broth

3/4 cup sliced carrots

1 cup cubed potatoes (I just used a medium-sized potato)

1 medium chopped onion

3/4 cup sliced celery

1 cup canned tomatoes

2 teaspoons salt*

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1 cup milk

* * * * * * * *

Put all ingredients (EXCEPT milk) in large saucepan.  Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

Before serving, add 1 cup milk and heat until very warm, but don't boil.

Serves 6.

*Note regarding the 2 teaspoons of salt.  My homemade broth is never very salty so the 2 teaspoons of salt in the recipe was just right.  If you use commercial broth, which is usually on the salty side, you might want to reduce the amount.

I served the soup with (fake) Boston Brown Bread and slices of dill pickles.

Without meat, this is a very inexpensive soup to make.  And as I said, even my hubby didn't object to the lack of meat in it.  But it would also be a great soup in which to use up that last half cup (or so) of ham chunks getting chilblains in the freezer.

If you have a hankering to join in on Soup Sundays, get your recipe ready for posting next Sunday.  This will be fun.  And tasty!