This has to be one of my all time favorite soup recipes.  It was one of my first soup recipe posts from 2010 and one I make time and time again.
Back in the day....I am talking wayyy back in the day, as a teenager I loved the tomato rice soup that came in a can.  You know the one I am talking about?  Well, back then I could eat that soup every day - and just about did.  Then one day, it seemed we could no longer get it.  I was dumbfounded.  How could they stop making such a delicious soup my very naive self says?
Well, years later, we still did not see it on the shelves, but by then I was entrenched in the world of Celiac Disease.  This canned soup was loaded in wheat, msg and god knows what.  So, this recipe was born to replace the old version of canned Tomato Rice Soup.  And you know what?  It is 10000 better!  I have made no changes here - it is too good as it is.
By the way, the other day at the grocery store what did I see?  Canned Tomato Rice Soup and the ingredient list was frightening - no new news there I'm afraid.  This time there were no tears shed.  🙂
Yayyyyyy  for homemade soup!

TOMATO RICE SOUP
2 Tblsp. Olive oil
1 large onion – roughly chopped
4 minced garlic cloves
2 diced celery stalks with leaves
1 28 oz. Can whole tomatoes (with juice)
4 cups homemade chicken stock
1 tsp. Thyme
2  tsp. Fennel
3 bay leaves (mine were small to medium size)
salt and pepper
½ cup cooked long grain rice (or a little less)
Optional: handful of chopped spinach, or collard greens, or kale.
In a pot bring ½ cup rice to 1 cups water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook about 15 min. or until rice has absorbed all the liquid. Once cooked remove from the heat and set aside.
Add olive oil to a pot, low to medium heat. Add onion, garlic and celery – sautéing to sweat out. Add the seasonings, and stir to blend. Then add the tomatoes with juice (break up the tomatoes with a spoon), chicken stock, and any greens. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer, about 30 minutes.
Remove from heat – allow to cool about 10 minutes. Spoon all the veggies into a food processor and blend till smooth. Remove the bay leaves from the broth, add in the pureed vegetables, and the cooked rice stirring to blend. Return to a low heat to heat through – adjust any seasonings.
Served with grill cheese – perfect for lunch or dinner
Note: believe it or not, 2 good squirts of ketchup add some nice zing to this soup and fresh tomatoes would be lovely too.  Also, have you ever noticed, that whole canned tomatoes have more flavor than the diced ones??