Wild Rice and Garbanzo Bean Soup

It's been wonderfully dreary and rainy here lately.  Normally, this alone is enough to get me craving a hot bowl of soup but, add in the fact that I'm fighting a stubborn cold that just won't go away, and it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be some sort of comfort food happening here and this was exactly what I needed.

Cooking this soup, I was tempted to add a little heavy cream, mostly out of habit, but after tasting it I realized it was completely unnecessary.  The turmeric really gives a nice Indian flavor and if you're inclined to add some some sort of carb to the meal, I would suggest a garlicky naan bread.

2c herbed wild rice blend, cooked

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP butter

1/4c yellow onion, chopped

1c carrots, diced

1 large stalk celery, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

1/8 tsp. dried turmeric

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

6c vegetable broth

2 - 15oz. cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1.  In a medium size pot, heat olive oil and butter over Medium High heat.  Add the onions, carrots, and celery.  Cook and stir 4-5 minutes, until softened.

2.  Stir in the garlic, thyme, turmeric, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  Cook and stir an additional 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add the vegetable broth and garbanzo beans.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to Low, cover, and allow to simmer 20-30 minutes.

4.  Remove cover and stir in the cooked rice.  Allow to simmer another 5-10 minutes, or until rice is heated through.  Serve warm.