by Kelly J. Larson

The texture and appearance of cooked wild rice is very satisfying and meaty. Combine it with lentils to make a soup even more hearty and filling. This main course soup is ideal for any busy college student or those who don’t want to spend a lot of time prepping, but are aiming for a filling, homemade soup. Add in the frozen vegetables and a quick protein to make it a complete meal.

Plan on doing some multitasking, because you’ll need to let the rice and lentils sit for a bit. You can get the rice and lentils cooking, forget about them a while, then return to finish up the dish and dig in. I had my 20-year-old son, a freshman in college, in mind when I came up with this simple recipe. It is great fun to see him exploring and learning to cook.

Wild Rice & Lentil Soup

• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 can (14 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion, optional
• 1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 pound peeled shrimp, uncooked

Combine rice and lentils in a medium sized pan and rinse in water twice. Add 4 cups water and bring to boil on medium high heat for five minutes without a lid. Turn to low heat then simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and leave the lid on to allow rice and lentils to sit in the pan for at least another half hour. (It would be fine to wait a few hours even until you return to cooking.)

Add chicken or vegetable stock and heat on medium high to bring the temperature back up. Stir in the heavy cream and add the frozen vegetables. In the meantime, rinse and pat the shrimp dry, then add Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning.