Hearty Vegetable & Brown Rice Soup (GF, DF, Vegan option)

With the colder months well on their way and winter creeping around the corner, we thought it was high time we made you a recipe of our Hearty Vegetable & Brown Rice Soup. The perfect way to warm yourself up whether its a take-to-work lunch or a delicious dinner.

The best part about this soup is that you can change it to suit whatever vegetables you have on hand! We had to resist calling it kitchen sink soup since it doesn't have quite the same curb appeal, but you really can add everything but the kitchen sink. It's a great way to use up surplus vegetables, or those vegetables that have been in there a little longer than you expect. Plus the hearty brown rice makes it super filling!

We used our gorgeous San Elk Organic Beef Bone stock powder in this to really add to the flavour. This stock powder is so versatile and such a handy thing to keep in the pantry for those days where you haven't got fresh stock lying around. This recipe can of course be made completely vegan should you wish to use San Elk Organic Vegetable stock instead.

If you wanted to bump up the protein in this recipe, you could easily add in meat or beans. We envision this with some italian fennel pork sausage, poached chicken or simply with your favourite beans for the vegan option. 

Elora had a container filled with her homegrown tomatoes and capsicums which had been roasted and frozen - so we used this in place of the tinned tomatoes. It gave it a huge amount of flavour and therefore if you can find any roasted tinned tomatoes, we recommend taking that option for the extra flavour.

For a soup whipped up in 40 minutes, including prep time, it really packs in so much flavour. The perfect warming soup for a cold winter's day!

You'll Need:

• 4 cups Water
• 4 tsp San Elk Organic Beef Bone Stock (or vegetable to make it vegan)
• 1/2 cup Organic Brown Rice
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Brown Onion, diced
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 1 Leek, cleaned and sliced
• 2 Carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 leaves Cavolo Nero Kale, chopped
• 1/4 head Green Cabbage, sliced
• 1 can Chopped Tomatoes (preferably fire roasted if you can find them!)
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Place your water, stock and brown rice into a pot and bring to a boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the lid on and cook for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop all of your vegetables. In a large pot over a medium heat, add your olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook for 5-8 minutes, until onions become translucent. Set aside until the rice has cooked for 15 minutes.

Add the rest of your vegetables, along with your tomatoes to the pot with the onions, then pour in your stock and rice. If adding beans or any uncooked meat, add at this point. Bring to a boil once more, then reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 15 minutes. If adding cooked meat, add it with 8-10 minutes of cooking time remaining to heat through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy! You could also stir fresh parsley through at the end of cooking for some extra flavour too.

Enjoy - and be sure to tag us @nourishandthrivenz if you make it! ❤️