Roasted Fennel & Wild Rice Soup

This sweet and earthy soup is perfect for a winter dinner or early spring lunch, and easy to make with the help of a good blender. Sweet onion and fennel provide a minty, tangy flavor base, and blending them with the beans adds texture and body. Fennel has shown to provide many health benefits, and has been traditionally used to treat digestive issues.

Ingredients

6 cups - 48oz chicken or vegetable broth

1 medium sized fennel bulb

1/2 cup celery stalk - chopped into 1/8 inch pieces.

1 large vidalia or sweet onion

1/4 cup beans - (cooked) cannellini or navy beans

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup wild rice

Optional: Dill, fennel leaves

Black pepper, Salt

Olive Oil

Steps

Steps - Soup

1. Add the wild rice and chopped celery to a stockpot filled with 4 cups (32 oz) of broth, set to medium low heat and cover (leave a little room for steam to exit).

2. Cook for 30 minutes, stir periodically.

3. While the rice is cooking down prepare the fennel, garlic and onion.

Steps Fennel

1. Chop the fennel bulb into quarters, removing any dirty outer layers and cutting off most of the stems (reserve some leaves). Top with olive oil, salt and black pepper.

2. Peel and chop the onion into quarters or eighths. Top with olive oil, salt and black pepper.

3. Peel one clove of garlic, wrap in foil

4. Spread the garlic clove, onions and fennel on a baking sheet or pan, set the oven to 425 or 400 convection, and cook for 40 minutes or until golden, flipping the fennel and onions half-way through.

5. Once cooked, remove from heat, let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Steps Blender

1. Add 2 cups of cold broth, the fennel, garlic and onions to a blender, along with the 1/4 cup of beans.

2. Blend until fully pureed, (the texture should be pretty thick, almost like a paste) add liquid from the soup if necessary to fully blend.

3. In steps, add the pureed fennel mix to the broth and rice , blend and cook on medium low heat for 15 minutes.. (If the soup is too thick for your tastes, add more broth or water, if it's too thin, allow to cook down without the lid).

4. Salt to taste

5. Serve and top with black pepper, fennel leaves and or dill. Lemon could be added, too.

   
   
   
   

   

   Roasted fennel and onion bulb nearing golden brown