Wild Rice Soup Mix & Soup

Everyone loves the soup that comes from this mix! And it can be made in a million ways. I used to buy this mix in bulk at the natural foods store, but began to wonder why I was paying so much for what were mostly very inexpensive ingredients. So I reverse engineered the mix. Directions for turning the mix into soup are below.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup wild rice
• 1⁄8 cup barley
• 1⁄8 cup  split peas
• 1⁄8 cup  dried  vegetables (optional)
• 1⁄8 cup dried mushroom (optional)
• 2  quarts chicken broth (optional)
• 1 (4 ounce) can tomato paste (optional)
• 2  celery ribs, sliced (optional)
• 2  carrots, sliced (optional)
• 2 (4 ounce) cans mushrooms (optional)
• 1 (12 1/2ounce) can chicken (optional)

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients. This is the mix. It will keep indefinitely as long as it is dry, so it's a great pantry item for a busy weekday night.
2. Put in pot and add 2 quarts liquid (I love chicken broth, but you could use vegetable broth, beef broth, or 1/2 broth and 1/2 water. I've never tried all water, as I expect that would be rather bland, but you could use that, as well.)
3. Add tomato paste if you are using it (highly recommended). Add carrots and celery if you are using them.
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer till wild rice has split and peas just about fall apart, about 1 1/4 hours.
5. Add canned items, as well as any leftover vegetable and meat that you are using, just enough to heat through.
6. Wonderful with Parmesan or Romano cheese grated over it.
7. You can also ladle into a microwave safe bowl, add an egg and cook in microwave until the egg is softly poached -- then stir the egg into the soup till creamy. Yum!