A soup kind of day

Today in DC it was about 50 outside and rainy. I was planning on sometime this week having soup so I thought that tonight would be perfect!

I have to admit that I cheated a little bit. I bought no-chicken broth instead of making my own and the rice and beans I added were Eden canned Caribbean style. Oh, and my roommates had celery they had left over from a party dip platter and they weren't going to eat it..BUT! Everything else that was in it was local.

I started with some olive oil and a clove of elephant garlic with about 1/4 cup of onions. Those sauteed for a few min and then I added chopped carrots, potatoes and celery. After those cooked for about 7 minutes I added one quart (the whole carton) of no-chicken broth. I brought that to a simmer and added one large tomato that I chopped and took the seeds out of. I cooked all of this for about 30 min and then I added a can of rice and beans. I wasn't sure if it would taste good. I kind of made the recipe up as I went along but it was AMAZING!!! I was impressed with myself. :)

I had the soup with a wonderful grilled cheese sandwich my husband made. What a wonderful meal for a cold rainy day!