Lemon Rice Soup

One of the things I worried about when we moved into our apartment was composting. A few years ago my mom and I attended a composting workshop at The Conservatory. My mom was an instant convert. Every year the city has a sale on compost bins and equipment and she bought four giant bins. You might think that's overkill, but my parents yard is huge with lots of gardening space and my family goes through a fair amount of food even though my older brother and I don't live at home anymore. For the last two or three years my mom and I have also created a new garden space in the yard for veggies. I love growing our own veggies in our own compost, there's an extra sense of accomplishment. Not to mention that the amount of garbage that was going out of the house was drastically reduced.

So for the first two or three weeks Ryan and I were living in the new place I was genuinly stressed about throwing out all that compostable food because we had no where to put it. We don't have a balcony and I would even hang a bucket outside our windows but there are screens on them we can't remove. I had completely forgotten that you can easily freeze compostable food and put it in the bin later - a fact I was reminded of when someone mentioned they do this in the winter. So I bought a 1.5 litre tupperware container and some small sized compostable bags from Dollarama - yes, they sell compostable bags at Dollarama. We keep it in the freezer and when the bag is full I take it out, tie it, and put it in the back of the freezer. I go to my folks once every week or two so I just throw them in a plastic bag and dumb them in the compost bins when I visit.

So if you're an apartment dweller who has no room to compost, consider if you have the freezer space and know anyway with a compost bin. It seems like we have half as much garbage to take out since we started composting two months ago.

Moving on, today I have a recipe to share. I was wondering what I should make for my first post so I figured I'd go back to an oldie but a goodie. I came up with this conconcotion a few years ago when I was searching for a good substitute for a Lemon Rice Chicken Soup from a local Greek restaurant. I think this tastes 10 times better. I usually use chicken stock to make it, but I omit any actual chicken because I just don't really like chicken pieces in my soup. I know, call me crazy.

This recipe is ridiculously easy and a great way to use up any celery, carrots, or various other veggies you may have lying around. For instance, tonight I had half a potato on hand so I grated it and threw it in. It's pretty impossible to screw this up because you really just need to make it to your taste. Some people might find the pairings of herbs odd but I love the taste they create.

Lemon Rice Soup

• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 small-medium yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp oregano
• juice of 1-2 lemons, depending on taste
  
• 1/2 cup rice
• 6 cups chicken or veggie stock*

1) In a large pot saute celery, carrots, potato, onion, and garlic in olive oil until onions soften.
2) Add the 6 cups of stock, salt, pepper, basil, parsley, oregano, juice of 1-2 lemons, and 1/2 a cup rice. Bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Adjust seasoning to your taste and enjoy!

*I usually like to use homemade chicken stock or veggie stock, but I often use broth cubes or broth or stock in a carton when I don' thave any homemade on hand. Easy to do in a pinch.