6 cups vegetable stock 2/3 cup uncooked wild rice *8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced (from last week's box!) 2 medium carrots, diced (from last week's box!) 2 ribs Veggie Box celery, diced 2/3 of Veggie Box sweet potato, diced 1 1/2 cup of cubed Veggie Box rutabaga 1 Veggie Box onion, peeled and diced 1 bay leaf 1 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning 3 tablespoons butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 cups milk 1 large handful of kale, roughly chopped with thick stems removed Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Heat (an extra) 1 tablespoon butter in a large
stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion,
mushrooms, rutabaga, and sweet potato and sauté
for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft
and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for an
additional 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until
fragrant.Add in the vegetable stock, wild rice,
carrots, celery, bay leaf and Old Bay seasoning. Stir
to combine.Continue cooking until the soup reaches a
simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and
simmer for 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender,
stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, during those final
10 minutes, prepare your cream sauce in a separate
saucepan on the stove. In it, cook the butter over
medium-high heat until melted. Whisk in the flour
until combined, and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add
in the milk, and whisk until combined. Continue
cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture
nearly comes to a simmer and has thickened. (It
should be very thick.)Add the cream sauce and kale
to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and
season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Old Bay
seasoning, if you would like) as needed.