Vegetable and Rice Soup

So it is a new year and I am finally getting around to doing another post. Long story short, too much the holiday baking, travel and a bout of the flu for the family has brought us well into the new year. Although I am assuming most people have already forgotten their New Year's resolution and are at the point were they are about to start looking forward to spring, I thought a nice healthy, easy soup would be a great way to start the year. This vegetable soup is great with homemade broth but can use a high quality store bought broth if necessary (I use an Imagine organic chicken broth). This soup really is great when you need something warm and healthy, my wife had me make it three days in a row last week!

The Recipe: Vegetable and Rice Soup

Makes 4 servings, Prep Time 15 minutes (I like to make sure vegetable are very precisely chopped), Cook Time 20 minutes

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 red pepper diced into small cubes
3 stocks of celery split down the middle and diced
3 large carrots diced
3 medium sized shallots finely diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 tsp of cayenne powder(reduce if you don't want the heat, but cayenne been proven to have many healing properties and improves circulation)
2 tsp sea salt (adjust based on the the salt in your stock)
1/3 cup of white rice (you can use brown rice but you will have to adjust the cooking time accordingly)
6 cups of chicken broth

Heat a large pot over medium high heat and add the olive oil, peppers, carrots, celery, sea salt and shallots. Saute for about 5 minutes, while stirring, then add the garlic.

Continue cooking another 2 minutes. Add the chili powder, cayenne, rice and cook for another minute.

Add the stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes or until rice is done. Enjoy!