Tomato and Wild Rice Soup

I cannot get enough of this soup in the fall!! It's really pretty simple to make, super hearty and tastes SO good --and an added bonus is that it has a great fall color! It would be great for hosting because it makes quite a bit.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped to the size you prefer
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped (with at least some of the leafy tops because it adds really yummy flavor)
• 32 ounces diced tomatoes (cans are in all different sizes, but you should have at least 32 ounces, sometimes I like to add more).*
• 2.5 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup wild rice combo (wild, whole grain, brown and white rice) --the one I buy at Alberstons is pictured below,
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil or about a teaspoon dry basil
• 1/2 can of corn
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (not 1 full breast, just 1 half breast)
• 2 cups 1% milk (the original recipe calls for whole milk, so if you have that use it, I'm sure it would be yummy, but 1% works just fine!)

*When my mom makes this soup she pulses the diced tomatoes in a blender to make a thick paste, I prefer the "chunkiness" of the tomatoes so usually only pulse about 1/2 of them, or none if I'm too lazy to get out the blender... anyway you go, it's still really good!

1. Saute the butter, oil, carrots, onion, celery in soup pan for 10 minutes2. Add next 5 ingredients (tomatoes, chicken broth, rice, basil, salt and pepper)
3. Simmer 1 hour4. Then add the 1/2 can of corn, cooked shredded chicken and 2 cups of milk
5. bring back to simmer for about 10 minutes

6. Serve!
Enjoy!!