You may remember that for a while this past Fall and Winter I was slightly obsessed with making and eating batches of soups and stews. The past couple of months, however, I have been slacking on my devotion to one of the greatest types of food. Soups are pretty great, after all, aren’t they? You cannot beat quick and easy recipes that are packed full of vegetables and that produce some of the tastiest leftovers. Let us not forget about how great soups freeze and re-heat, too! Two Wednesdays ago, I decided that it was time to change my lack of making and eating soups. And what better way to do that than with a slow cooker soup recipe? It seriously does not get much easier than this one, folks!
Slow-cooker Pea and Carrot Rice Soup
Adapted from a recipe in the April 2012 issue of Rachael Ray Magazine
Servings: 4
Ingredients
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into half-moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
1 cup brown rice (not instant)
6 cups water*
5 to 6 tsp “no chicken” Better Than Bouillon vegetable soup base*
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaf
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
*You can also use vegetable broth in place of the water and soup base
Now are you ready for the simplest directions ever?…
Directions
1. Place all ingredients into the slow cooker and stir until well-combined.
2. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on the low heat setting for approximately 8 to 10 hours, or until the rice is fully cooked.
That’s it! Pretty easy, am I right? 😉
Serve your Slow-cooker Pea and Carrot Rice Soup with your favorite crackers or slice(s) of bread. I chose my go-to soup accompaniment: saltine crackers!
This soup was seriously delicious. In fact, it was so good that I had to go back for seconds :). It definitely has a spin on the classic chicken noodle soup, but the textures and flavors of the rice and beans provide a nice twist to this soup’s more traditional counterpart. Plus, let’s not forget about how obsessed I am with both peas and carrots. I am pretty much bound to love anything that has an abundance of those two vegetables.
I, of course, was beyond excited about my leftovers the next day at lunch. I am fairly certain that we are all aware of how much better soup gets with age…kind of like wine, I suppose? And you had better believe that I am extremely happy with the fact that I currently have two more servings of this soup in my freezer. I am sure that they will not be in there for much longer, though! 😉
Before I let you go for the day, I want to mention one last thing. This past weekend I watched the documentary, Vegucated. It is streaming for free right now on Hulu and is an incredibly informative and interesting film. I highly encourage each of you to watch it. Oh, and you may want to keep a box of tissues on hand, too. Just a warning! 😉 Following is the link to the Hulu page and a brief description:
This feature-length documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time; Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking; and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the fate of the world may fall on their plates.
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That soup looks delicious and I agree that the soups just get better day by day 🙂
And thank you for the link on Vegucated – very interesting!
Yes, soups are definitely one of the only foods that I truly LOVE as leftovers.
Your soup looks like the ultimate comfort food for a rainy, cold day! That’s the type of weather we’ve had lately, so maybe that’s why it looks so delicious to me.
I watched Vegucated with my husband, and we both thought it was a great film. Very interesting!
Thank you!!
And yes, I really enjoyed Vegucated. I think EVERYONE should watch it! 😉
I’m intrigued by your Hulu recommendation and if I have time am going to check it out. I’m especially interested in what the college student does…
I bought a slow cooker about 2 months ago (rush shipped it and everything) and have YET to use it. Mayyyy give something like this a try! 🙂
You should absolutely watch it. It is only a little more than an hour long.
You should finally put your slow cooker to use with this recipe! 😉
I don’t even care that it’s 100+ degrees outside, this recipe makes me wanna turn up the AC and cuddle under some covers with a good movie =)
I am one of those “weird” people who eats soup in the middle of the Summer! 😉
I love all your recipes, they always look so good! And I have heard great things about Vegucated, I’ll have to look it up!
You should absolutely watch it. I really enjoyed it :).
I might have to watch Vegucated… I thought it sounded (based on the title) kind of dry, but your description makes it sound much more interesting!
It really is quite interesting, though I might be slightly biased being a vegetarian/sometimes vegan ;).
Mmm soup makes me feel so cozy 😀
Same here!! It is the ultimate comfort food :).
leftovers are the best. I need to work on cooking in bulk
Soups are definitely the easiest thing to cook in bulk. It is one of the only things that I make large quantities of and freeze.
This looks great! I am always looking for more ways to use my slow cooker (so many recipes involve meat). And since spring seems to not exist, it is still definitely soup weather!
It is most definitely still soup weather!! Let me know what you think if you give it a try :).
That soup sounds great! I am 100% incapable of cooking rice, btw. I have to have my boyfriend make it every single time. I’m hoping this will be the recipe that redeems me 🙂
Glad to see that everyone loves (okay, or at least uses) better than bouillon and I don’t just have some weird obsession!
You should totally try this, because it is super easy to cook the rice “right” with this recipe.
And seriously, I cannot get enough of the Better Than Bouillon. I use it allll the time!
Love how easy and delicious this looks!! Yum!!! I don’t use my slow cooker nearly enough…
I don’t either! I am trying to save myself more time though lately, so I have been using it more frequently :).
This looks soo good (minus the onion (; ) and I think my husband would like it too!
You should absolutely give it a try. Leaving the onion out would be no big deal!
this sounds good! I think I like rice in soup more than noodles to be honest!
This is one of the first times that I have actually made soup with rice, but I definitely LOVED it!
I am a huge fan of slow cooker recipes, especially when I can throw everything in a pot and walk away for 8 hours 😉 Soups are the best easy meal around, too! Good idea to freeze the leftovers so they can be reused later…I hate wasting food but always forget about soup in my fridge after a few days…definitely remembering that trick 🙂
Every soup that I have ever made has froze and reheated wonderfully! You should definitely try it.
slow cooker has been such a life saver and i loved the smell of whole house when stew is being made 🙂 i love the idea of this soup 🙂 Vegucated is awesome- must watch
Whenever I walk into my apartment after work and smell food that has been cooking in my slow cooker I get SO excited! 😉
Mmm, this soup sounds good. I adore Great Northern Beans. Yes, I just said that. 🙂 Thanks for sharing the documentary! I love watching health/food documentaries and will definitely check it out!
I hope you enjoy the documentary!!
And hey, I am a major bean lover so I totally understand ;).
I’m a huge leftovers fan too! So easy and it really does often taste better the next day because the flavors mix more!
Agreed!! So, so good :).
YUM! I am a huge fan of anything slow-cooker and I am going to add that movie to my list! I’m all about the documentary-style movies right now, especially the ones that are health-focused 🙂
I love the health-focused documentaries, too! I was super excited when I read that it was streaming for free right now.
This sounds so delicious, easy and healthy! I love soups and love how easy they are in the slow cooker.
Soups in the slow cooker are one of the easiest things EVER to make! I love them 🙂
This looks so good! I love soup and stew, all year, mmm 🙂
Me too! I definitely eat it during the Summer, too!
that looks delicious!
Thank you so much!
YUM!! This looks amazing!
Thanks!! 🙂
I’m definitely with you about soup getting better with age…the different flavors have more time to get to know one another ;)!
You betcha!! You cannot go wrong with leftover soup.
Soup looks tasty! Perfect on a cold April day!! Ill be checking out your movie recommendation this weekend!
Let me know what you think!
I absolutely adore crockpot soups for the easy preparation and the leftovers! This looks so good!
Aren’t they awesome? Every time that I make something in my CrockPot I always wonder why I do not use it more often!
I love slow cooker recipes! Easiest thing ever. I’m intrigued by that documentary…I’ll have to watch soon!
Let me know what you think if you watch it! 🙂
SOUPer simple recipes are my favorite. Thanks for the delicious idea!
I love that you put “SOUPer!!” 😉
Oh nom, nom, nom! Soups are the best when I want something quick and delicious!
You are SO right about that!!
I love soups, especially ones that can be thrown into the crock pot! I’ve been dying to see Vegucated, but every time I go to our movie store, they don’t have it! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
Let me know if you try the soup or if you watch the documentary!
Love slow cooker recipes and this one looks super delicious and hearty!
Me too!! Thank you! 🙂
I’m not sure if you’ll see this comment all the way down here but I wanted to let you know that Brandon and I watched Vegucated together last night and it was really good. Thank you for the recommendation. It does make me want to become a vegan but I try my hardest to buy only certified humane dairy products which Peta supports. I wish all dairy farms would follow that practice so they were easier to find. Anyway, thanks for sharing and I will try to pass it along to!! 🙂
I am so glad that you watched it and enjoyed it! Definitely pass it along to others :).
I never get tired of soup. My slow cooker has not been used all winter and now I am starting to use it again. Go figure. 🙂 the soup looks delicious
You sound like me! I am that person who makes soup during the middle of the Summer! 😉
Oh my gosh this sounds so so good!! Ive actually never made a pea soup like this, mostly because I know my hubby wouldn’t eat it. But this would be great for my lunches~!
You should absolutely make it for yourself! 🙂
I do love how soup is SO good leftover. There’s something about the melding of flavors that happens… yum!
Soup makes for the BEST leftovers!!
I had split pea soup for lunch – great minds think alike! Your soup looks awesome and I love that I can make it in the crock pot – my favorite way of cooking anything nowadays 😉
Anything in the Crock Pot is pretty much amazing in my book! 😉
I want this soup, it looks so perfect!
It was delicious and VERY easy to make. You should definitely give it a try. I already have plans to eat some of my leftovers this weekend and I am super excited about them! 😉