Recipe of the Week: Creamy Mushroom Soup

I always like to have a nice supply of fruits and vegetables on hand and the last time I went to the store, I decided I wanted to make a few dishes with mushrooms. I've been craving them and thought maybe I should try cooking with them a bit more. I've been making a conscious effort to reduce the number of carbs I eat (I am a toast FANATIC), so when I saw a recipe for creamy mushroom soup that doesn't require flour, beans, or dairy, I thought I'd try making my own version.

The secret to making the cream in this recipe is cauliflower. Yep, good old cauliflower. The cauliflower is cooked soft and blended to make a "cream". I love this soup and I'll definitely be making it again. It's easy to make, vegan, delicious, and low-carb...how can you go wrong? I served it with a simple salad on the side, but a nice piece of crusty bread would go perfect as well. Mmmm. 

Creamy Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

8 ounces white button mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup olive oil (If you're eating a lower-fat diet, drop this down to 1 T.)

1 head of cauliflower, cut up into chunks

4 cups vegetable stock

1/4 cup coconut flour*

2 cups water

2 T nutritional yeast (can omit)

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 teaspoon each: Old Bay seasoning (optional), garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and turmeric

2 teaspoons each Italian seasoning and ground pepper

2 teaspoons hot Madras curry or regular curry**

1 can coconut milk

salt to taste***

Instructions:

1. In a dutch oven - or any pot good for making soup - heat the olive oil over medium-high until it ripples.

2. Add the mushrooms and sautee until brown and soft. Remove mushrooms from the pan into a bowl.

3. Put the pan back on the stove and add the vegetable stock and cauliflower. Cook until cauliflower is soft, then remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

4. When the cauliflower is cool, add a third of the mushrooms, the cauliflower, the vegetable stock, and all the rest of the ingredients except for the coconut milk & salt, into a blender. Blend until smooth. You will see little brown flecks from the mushrooms. 

5. Turn your stovetop back on, this time over medium heat. 

6. Dump the contents of the blender and the remaining two-thirds sauteed mushrooms back into the pot and put onto the stovetop.

7. When the soup starts to gently bubble, add the coconut milk and stir thoroughly.

8. Heat through again until warm and serve.

Notes:

* You can use any flour here, I just like to use coconut flour because it complements the coconut milk & is low-carb, but using chickpea flour or regular flour will work fine. The blender does all the mixing so no need to worry about lumps. You can even omit the flour if you prefer, but it helps give it just a bit thicker of a consistency.

**  I find the curry complements the soup. While I added hot Madras curry, you could use mild or skip this! There's a ton of curry blends out there, and you could add any you'd like.

*** I don't like to add salt as the vegetable stock adds plenty. I try to watch how much sodium I'm eating, but you can definitely add a teaspoon at the very end or salt your own serving to taste. No judgment here!

Enjoy!