Vegetarian Mushroom Soup Recipe

A Tasty Vegetarian (Or Vegan!) Mushroom Soup

May 31, 2009 Heather Gawronski-Salerno

Try this tasty, non-traditional mushroom soup on a cold winter day or in the comfort of an air-conditioned home during summer. Simple to make. Even simpler to eat!

According to the Nutrition Almanac, mushrooms are a low-calorie, low-cholesterol, low-carbohydrate addition to any meal. While mushrooms won’t bust the charts with their nutritional value, many varieties provide decent amounts of fiber, minerals and vitamins. The one thing they have plenty of is potassium, a mineral that helps reduce high blood pressure and the risk of stroke.

Try this tasty, non-traditional mushroom soup on a cold winter day or in the comfort of an air-conditioned home during the hotter months of summer. Simple to make. Simpler to eat! For a more intense flavor, rehydrate 1 cup of dried mushrooms (shitake, porcini, chanterelles, morels) by soaking them in 1-½ cups of boiling water for 20 minutes. To accommodate this variation, reduce the bella mushrooms in the ingredient list below to 3 cups and the vegetable broth to 3 cups. Now let’s get started!

Vegetarian Mushroom Soup Recipe

Ingredients List

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 cups of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 4 small shallots, sliced
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed
• 4 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup milk (use soy milk for vegan variation)
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper, to taste
• plain croutons
• sour cream (optional)

Let's Get Cooking!

1. Heat a large soup pot on high until the pot has just started to smoke. Add the ol­ive oil, mushrooms, and shallots. Cook on high for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and sauté about 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes and sauté for 5 more minutes, stir­ring often and scraping the bottom of the pan to pull up the tasty char from the mushrooms, shallots and garlic.
2. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let sim­mer under a covered pot for 20 minutes. Remove the pot top and add the milk, parsley, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out 4 scoops of soup chunks from the pot and place them on the side. Blend the remaining soup mixture in the pot in a blender until the mixture is smooth. Pour the blended soup back into the soup pot and return the un­blended soup chunks. This will give your soup a bit of texture!
3. Pour the soup into the soup bowls for serving. Add 15 croutons per bowl, and swirl a teaspoon of sour cream in the center. Top with a bit of paprika and parsley. Serve!

Serves 4. Try serving this soup with some hearty grain bread or a baguette.

VEGAN NOTE: This recipe can be easily converted into Vegan Magic Mushroom Soup. Just substitute the milk with soy milk and forgo the sour cream.

References:

Dunne, Lavon J. Nutrition Almanac, 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2002.

The copyright of the article Vegetarian Mushroom Soup Recipe in Vegetarian Cuisine is owned by Heather Gawronski-Salerno. Permission to republish Vegetarian Mushroom Soup Recipe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Magic Mushroom Soup

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