Wild Rice & Dried Cherry Soup

That's right, you heard me. I know you're thinking...a vegetarian wild rice soup? Yes. With cherries? Oh yes! And it's fabulous. I'd even go as far as more fabulous than the original deal with chicken and flour base. Yay!

Let's get down to bid-ness.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add one carrot, one celery stalk and one medium onion, all finely chopped to the pan, stirring occasionally until the carrots are tender. This should take around 8 to 10 minutes. Once this is ready, add 3 tablespoons of flour (I used GF, but you can use regular) and mix well. Add in 3 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken if you wish) slowly until all lumps are gone. Let soup continue to cook for about 5 minutes so that the base can thicken. Add in 2 cups of cooked wild rice and 1/2 cup of dried cherries. Turn down your heat to low, stir occasionally and simmer soup for about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of heavy cream or half-and-half. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fried sage leaves if you wish.

Eat all of it because it is delicious.