Grandma Huck's Vegetable Soup

As I was looking through my recipe box for something to make for supper tonight, I found an old recipe card that Phil's Grandma Huck gave us quite a few years ago.  One side has her recipe for Pumpkin Blachinda, the other has the recipe for Vegetable Soup.  It  happened that I had everything I needed to make the soup, so I thought I'd give it a try.  The results were delicious, although my husband and children made jokes about the color all though the meal.  Because the recipe calls for beets and the cabbage I used was purple, the soup was a pinkish purple and did look kind of gross.

I followed the recipe as written pretty closely, though I used less liquid than called for and proportionally more chicken broth and less water, and added an onion for some extra flavor.  The recipe also called for a lot of canned vegetables and I had fresh or frozen versions so that's what I used. 

Grandma's Vegetable Soup
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 c. chicken broth
6 c. water
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 can diced beets, drained (I steamed about 5 medium yellow beets and added them instead)
1 can diced carrots, drained (I steamed a bunch of carrots with the beets and added them instead)
1/2 c. rice, uncooked
1 can tomatoes (I had some frozen tomatoes that I used)
1/2 small cabbage, shredded
1/2 c. cream (I used lowfat evaporated milk)

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a big soup pot.  Sautee onion in oil until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add water, broth, vegetables and rice, cooking for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are soft.  Stir in cream and add salt and pepper to taste. 

This made a large pot, probably 8 big bowls of soup, so it will feed a small crowd.  I know I will be happily enjoying it for lunch at least one day this week.  For added flavor and heartiness, you could add some cubed beef with the onions.  I'll probably do that next time.