Artichoke Soup 5

Ingredients

• VEGAN Low Fat Artichoke Soup or Sauce
• 1 can plain artichokes coarsedly chopped (14-15 oz can which usually holds
• about 5 pieces)
• 1 large leek coarsedly chopped (use stem, exclude leaves on top)
• 3 small (14 1/2 oz) cans of vegetable broth or home made
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1-2 squirts of tabasco or other hot sauce (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
• 1/4 cup uncooked rice

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cook for twenty minutes or longer if necessary until rice is cooked. (It is OK if rice is mushy, because it will be pureed later anyway.) Put solids and a bit of the liquid into a food processor and puree. Mixture will probably be a bit coarse. Return to the pan and stir into the rest of the liquid. Return to stove and simmer uncovered for a few more minutes. Mixture should be thick. Be sure to use regular rice, not the minute or instant cooking variety. This makes a thick soup or sauce which can be ladled over cooked noodles. If mixture is not thick enough to suit you, cook longer. It will thicken. If you prefer a thinner soup, you can use a bit more broth. (I have made the soup with 4 cans of broth. After it is pureed it is very thin. I usually have to cook it uncovered for at least another twenty minutes in order to thicken it up enough to call it soup.)
Note: If you use 2 tablespoons of lemon, it is very tart and very "adult" (in other words perhaps too tart for kids). You may wish to try one the first time you make the recipe. I usually just use half a lemon and don't bother to measure. But sometimes it is pretty tart that way if it's a big lemon. Some recipes which call for leeks tell you to only use the white part. Not so here. You can use some of the green, just don't use the leafy part at the top.