Tomato and Rice Soup

It's cold, wet and dreary in Hotlanta today.  The kind of weather that breeds severe lethargy (read:  laziness) and, a hankerin' for soup.  

So I made one.  Tomato and rice with sweet corn, ham and onion.  

Soups are really easy - pretty much it's a throw-it-all-in-a-pot dish.  I started mine by browning up some ham trimmings (left over from Thanksgiving) and adding them to a chicken stock base with two pints of stewed tomatoes and one can of tomato paste.

Then I added some rice (risotto, actually - I like the creaminess of it), sweet corn, and chopped onion.  Brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to medium low and let it cook for an hour and a half.

All the different flavors melded together - the risotto plumped up and the rest, as you'll see from the below pictures, is soup-making history.

Oh - and I threw together a cornbread (didn't deviate from the recipe this time - last time I tried to make it I decided to give it my own flair and it bombed) to have with my soup - Cornmeal, flour, eggs, milk, a little salt ... pretty tasty!!