Recipe - Brown-Rice Soup With Asparagus

2/3 cup Brown rice
12 ounce Asparagus
2/3 cup Celery chopped fine
1/3 cup Onion chopped fine
1/3 cup Carrot chopped fine
One half teaspoon Thyme
5 cup Chicken broth, defatted
2 tablespoon Green onions minced
1 tablespoon Parsley chopped fresh
1 tablespoon Soy sauce, low sodium
One half teaspoon Hot pepper sauce
Fresh ground pepper
Parsley sprigs for
Garnish

1. Combine rice with 1 1/3 cups water in medium saucepan. Bring to boil,
reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and water is absorbed, 45
minutes.

2. Meanwhile, trim woody ends off asparagus; discard ends. Bring large pot
of water to boil. Add asparagus and cook until tendercrisp, 2 minutes.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Cut into 1inch pieces, reserving 1/4
cup tips for garnish. Set asparagus aside.

3. Coat bottom of large pot or Dutch oven with vegetable cooking spray. Add
celery, onion, carrot, and thyme; cover and cook, stirring occasionally,
over low heat, until tender, 10 minutes. Add broth and rice; bring to boil
and simmer 10 minutes.

4. Transfer to blender in small batches and carefully blend until smooth.
Return soup to pot. Stir in asparagus, green onions, parsley, soy sauce,
pepper sauce, and pepper to taste; return to simmer. Ladle into bowls and
garnish with reserved asparagus tips and parsely springs. Makes 7 cups.

Recipe By : Rosie Daley

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini