Cooking, to me, is seasonal not only in the ingredients which are available, but also with the way I choose to prepare the food. In the summer I want something fresh, zesty & crunchy; matching the weather and the mood. Same goes for winter, and nothing says winter like a big bowl of soup. The stove on, simmering, a bastion of warmth in the kitchen, the smells slowly permeating throughout the cool house, breathing life into the dark winter evening. This soup, to me, is the perfect dish to get you through the grueling winter days of February. 

This wild rice soup is not only physically warm, but is also brimming with warm flavors. The chewy and nutty wild rice is matched with a trio of spices:cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and then cooked in coconut milk. The result is a nutty, earth and a very delicately sweet soup, with wonderful texture. Onions and corn contribute to the sweet, earthy flavor profile, and we add in kale at the end for a vibrant pop of color and a bit of a chewy texture. 

A few quick notes before diving into the recipe, first, wild rice can be an expensive ingredient. During a time where food prices are going up, I want to be conscious about this. Wild rice in this recipe can very easily be replaced by barley, a much more economical option. It’s a great substitute and takes about the same amount of time to cook. Second, in this recipe I call for cloves and nutmeg. While these are commonly bought already ground, I find using the whole spices and grinding them right before cooking in a small cheap spice grinder makes all the difference. I put the cloves in the spice grinder and microplane the nutmeg. I would highly suggest you try buying whole spices in the future if you’d like to take your cooking to the next level. 

With all that said, I hope this soup can warm your home on a cold winter night, enjoy!

Active time 30 minutes

Cook time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients:

• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 medium yellow onions, diced
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 ½ cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 ½ cups wild rice, rinsed
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cloves*
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg*
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 bunch kale
• Salt & freshly cracked black pepper
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Begin by preparing all vegetables, once complete, heat a large dutch oven on medium heat. Add in a generous splash of olive oil and sauté the carrots, onions and bell peppers with a pinch of salt. Sauté for 6-8 minutes until the onion is beginning to turn translucent. 
2. Add in the coconut milk, 10 cups of water, corn, wild rice, shredded coconut, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, nutritional yeast, 2 tsps of salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper. Turn the heat up to high until it begins to boil, then reduce heat to medium low and cover with the lid ajar to let it simmer. Stir the soup occasionally, and begin tasting the soup around the 40 minute mark to check and see if the wild rice is cooked all the way through. 
3. While soup is cooking, prepare the kale. Wash it and remove it from the ribs. Break it into small, bite sized pieces. Once the wild rice is cooked through, slowly work in the kale until it is all integrated and wilted. 
4. Remove soup from the heat, taste for salt levels and adjust according to your taste preferences, I typically add in another pinch or two. Serve while warm and savor!

*Note if using whole spices, grind a heaping teaspoon of whole cloves and microplane about a half of a nutmeg seed.