Prep: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 large (about 1 pound) sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
• Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Directions:

• Heat (an extra) 1 Tablespoon butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
• Add in the vegetable stock, wild rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf and Italian Seasoning.
• Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, during those final 10 minutes, prepare your cream sauce in a separate saucepan on the stove. In it, cook butter over medium-high heat until melted. Whisk in the flour until combined. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture nearly comes to a simmer and has thickened. (It should be very thick).
• Add the cream sauce and kale to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Italian Seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
• Serve warm. Or transfer to sealed container(s) and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

*Coconut milk can be substituted for the flour roux (cream mixture). Use 1 (15 ounce) can.

Recipe adapted from Gimme Some Oven