Wild Rice and Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Wild Rice and Roasted Cauliflower Soup

This amazing recipe comes from our good friend Lucy of Carrot Queen blog. Her recipes link the art of quality cooking backed by the science that make her recipes so nourishing. 

 

 

Roasted vegetables and cooked vegetables in a delicious stock. It comes together with wild rice and plenty of chopped parsley. I was looking into the health benefits of wild rice and found “Nutritional Constituents and Health Benefits of Wild Rice (Zizania spp.)” by Gangadaran Surendiran et al. They highlight all the different components of wild rice, “it naturally has high amounts of minerals, vitamins, protein, starch, dietary fiber, and various antioxidant phytochemicals, along with a low fat profile. Like other grains, wild rice is a food commodity that contains approximately 71-84% carbohydrate and 10-18% protein as its main constituents” (230). If you like the sound of that try this wild rice soup!

Ingredients  - Makes ~ 3 servings

½ cup wild rice

2 cups water

1 ¼ cup yellow onion, chopped

1 ¼ cup sweet potato, cubed

1 cup cauliflower, cut into bite size florets

1 cup carrots, cut into ¼ inch rounds

2 cup vegetable stock, divided

5 sprigs thyme

5 Tbsp olive oil, divided

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Parsley for garnish (optional)

 

Instructions

For the wild rice

1. Place the rice in a bowl and cover with water. Allow to sit on the countertop, covered with a towel, for 4 hours or up to overnight.

2. After soaking the rice, drain and rinse. Place in a saucepan with two cups of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 50-60 minutes or until the rice has broken open and is soft.

3. Drain remaining water from rice.

 

For the soup

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss the cauliflower florets in 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place on one side of a baking sheet.

2. Repeat the same process with the sweet potatoes. Bake cauliflower and sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes, tossing halfway.

3. Meanwhile, place 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onions and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the carrot rounds, thyme and 1 cup of stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, allow to steep for 15 minutes.

4. After 15 minutes strain the onions, carrots, and thyme out of the broth. Add more broth to make up 2 cups. Discard the thyme.

5. Make a roux. In a large saucepan add 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, add 3 tablespoons flour and mix constantly until homogenous. Slowly add the broth back to the roux while stirring constantly.

6. Add cauliflower, sweet potato, onions, carrots and wild rice to soup. Allow to simmer. Taste for any needed salt and pepper. Add more broth based on soup preference!

7. Serve with chopped parsley (optional)

 

Works Cited

Surendiran, Gangadaran, et al. “Nutritional Constituents and Health Benefits of Wild Rice (Zizania spp.).” Nutrition Reviews, vol. 72, no. 4, 2014, pp. 227–236.

 

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