Ingredients:
3 leeks, sliced (white parts only!)
1 bunch rapini, chopped
6 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup (uncooked) jasmine rice
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 bay leaves
juice and zest of 1 Meyer lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a wide-bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the garlic, rapini, parsley, rice and leeks. Saute until the leeks start to soften and the rapini starts to wilt. Pour in the broth, vermouth, juice, zest and spices. Cover and cook until the rice is fully cooked, about 15 minutes.

My thoughts:

A local grocery store chain often has some somewhat surprising fruits and vegetables. Cactus pears, Seckel pears, rapini, many varieties of apples, Vidalia onions still with their greens, broccolini, the list goes on. I guess none of those items is terribly exotic but a lot of that are things that until fairly recently, we could only buy at a specialty store or the farmers market. We only have one year-round farmers market since nothing is in season here during the winter so any store that has fresh, varied produce gets our vote. Lately it has been an embarrassment of riches when it comes to rapini (aka broccoli rabe), leeks and other dark greens. This recipe came about because I have a ton of stock in my freezer (anyone want to point me in the direction of a good, affordable pressure canner? I have ham, lobster, chicken and turkey stock taking valuable space.), lovely rapini and some leeks that looked shifty. Luckily, it was one of those happy accidents when everything came together in a delightful manner. I am not even a soup fan and I loved it.