Autumn Wild Rice Soup

• 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 TBS Old Bay Seasoning
• 4 TBS 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 & freshly cracked black pepper

In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt 1 TBS butter. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock, wild rice, mushrooms, carrots, celery, sweet potato, bay leaf, and Old Bay seasoning, stirring to combine. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.

During the final 10 minutes of simmering, prepare the cream sauce in a separate saucepan on the stove. Melt the remaining butter over medium-high heat, whisk in the flour until combined and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add in the milk whisking until combined. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture comes to a simmer and has thickened. It has to be very thick.

Add the cream sauce and kale to the soup stirring gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper as needed

Serve warm.