wild rice soup with coconut milk

 Going through the cupboards to see what I can use up, looking for recipe ideas.

This Cozy Autumn Wild Rice Soup is a great idea. 

Ingredients

• 6 cups vegetable stock 
• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 1 small onion, diced  
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• Vegetables
• She used: 
• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 large (about 1 pound) sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 large handfuls of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed
• today I will use below, with different variations in the future (such as winter squash):
• carrots
• celery
• green beans
• zucchini
• kale 
• Seitan or tempeh or tofu (frozen or pressed) 
• 1 bay leaf
• herbs and spices (she called for Old Bay which is not a thing for me, so I'll play with it)
• 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk (or see cream sauce option below*)
• fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté 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.  Turn down the heat if necessary to avoid burning the garlic.
2. Add in the firmer vegetables such as carrots and celery and saute lightly.
3. Add in stock, wild rice, bay leaf, and season.  Bring to a simmer.
4. Add other vegetables based on how much time they need to cook (not much for zucchini or kale, more for green beans).   
5. Simmer for about 45 minutes until the wild rice is cooked, then add in the coconut milk and last vegetables.  Season.