Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup: Blog With Friends Winter Activities

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends theme collaborations. Each month a group  of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about this partnership is that it’s not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may have a recipe, sewing tutorial, crafts projects, book review and/or a technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Winter Activities.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here’s a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup.

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup

It probably doesn't surprise you that a cold winter day finds me in the kitchen. When we have days like today, ice on the streets, wind whipping, snow falling, I tend to "nest". I think it's the desire to feel cocooned in my home. First up is always a fire in the fireplace. Clothes are always warm, loose and comfortable. And dinner is more than likely a soup or stew. 

It's sort of a game with me, on these days, to work out a new recipe. I have to go with whatever ingredients are in the house as I'm certainly not going shopping. The win is when the result is one of those hearty meals that warm you from the inside out. I always have ciabatta rolls or a french loaf on hand, crusty bread is the perfect side to a bowl of hot soup.

Using what I had on hand, I made this soup with frozen chopped onions, broccoli florets, carrots, and a package of cauliflower florets.

Cook the vegetables in the broth until tender. I made brown rice and set it aside while the vegetables were softening.

I wish I could say that I have an immersion blender but I don't so I had to use the standing blender. 

Return the blended vegetables to the pot, add the evaporated milk and rice, heat and serve. 

I like to add a little extra shredded sharp cheddar as a garnish.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Inside Activities for Winter Days. 

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares the recipe for her Chocolate Walnut Gooey Snowflake Cake.

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares how to make a DIY (under $20) Window Garden.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Papercrafting, a Great Excuse to Stay Indoors. 

Rabia of The Lieber Family Blog shares her Quilted Tied Fleece Blanket DIY.

Be sure to stop by again next month for more theme based projects.

Creamy Vegetable Rice Soup

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Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
3 cups vegetable stock
2 TBSP cooking sherry
1 1/2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup cauliflower florets, chopped 
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp caribbean jerk seasoning
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
dash of cayenne pepper
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
OPT: additional cheese for garnish

Directions:
*In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft. Whisk in the flour and continue whisking for 1 minute. 
*Add the vegetable broth, sherry, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, salt, pepper and seasonings to the pot. Raise the heat to high, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
*Carefully pour the soup into a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pot. Add the evaporated milk, cream, 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese and rice. Cook over medium heat until hot. 
*OPT: garnish with additional cheese for serving.