Autumn Wild Rice Soup

I have a love/hate relationship with creamy soups.  Steaming bowls of rich and hearty lobster bisque, decadent she-crab and loaded baked potato chowder - these are the soups that make dreams come true. 🤣  I mean, can anyone resist a steaming bowl of clam chowda? 

As much as I love creamy soups though - I hardly ever give myself the permission to indulge in them.   You see, cream based soups aren't only loaded with flavor, most of the time, what makes them so great is the not so secret ingredient - a healthy dose of heavy cream. 🥛 Cream adds that undeniably rich, savory element to the soup but unfortunately, it also adds unwanted fat and calories to my favorite cool weather lunch treat.  🍜 

The good news is - not all "creamy" soups are flavored with cream. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This Autumn Wild Rice soup is proof that you can have a deliciously, rich and creamy soup without cream or any dairy at all.  A can of lite coconut milk proves to actually be a scrumptious substitute for full fat cream.  Loaded with hearty rice, tasty root vegetables, fiber rich kale and plenty of seasoning - this soup might just be my new favorite go-to guilt-free lunch choice this Fall. 

Autumn Wild Rice Soup
1 Tablespoon oil
​6 cups chicken stock
1 cup uncooked wild rice
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small white onion, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk 
2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
salt and black pepper

Heat oil in dutch oven.  Add onion and saute 5 minutes. 

Stir in garlic and cook another minute.

Stir in chicken stock, rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf and Old Bay.  

Reduce heat to low and simmer 30-40 minutes or until rice is tender. 

Stir coconut milk and kale into soup.  Season with salt and pepper. 

I've had this Autumn Wild Rice soup recipe in my blog cue for a while now - waiting for a good time to share it.  (Really, just for the temperatures to drop below 80. 🤣)  This has been such a weird Fall but it looks like we're headed for some more Fall like temperatures soon so - now's the time to get your soup on.  

​Ciao!

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