TOO MANY MUSHROOMS? MAKE THIS VEGAN CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP!

For me, every Spud delivery day is like Christmas even though I have until 3 PM the day before my delivery to modify my order, I am still surprised by what is in my bins. This week, I didn’t do a full inventory of what I had in my fridge before completing my order so when my bins arrived and I went to put my stuff away, I discovered some things that I had an excess of. One of those things were mushrooms; crimini mushrooms, white button mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. What should a person do with 2 ¼ lbs of mushrooms? Well, the first thing that came to mind was a good vegan cream of mushroom soup so this afternoon, I set out to create my vegan version and I was super pleased with the results.

3 T. avocado oil

1 large onion chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1 shallot minced

2 ¼ lbs of mushrooms, sliced

½ tsp of thyme or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

½ cup white wine (optional)

3 cups of vegetable broth

2 ½ cups of unsweetened cashew milk

1/3 cup of arrowroot flour (or tapioca flour)

2 T. Bragg all-purpose seasoning (or soy sauce)

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup garlic chive Spread Em mixed with a splash of cashew milk to thin it (optional)

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and shallot. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until they clarify. While the onion mixture is cooking, slice mushrooms and then add them to the onion mixture. Cover pot, still over low heat so that mushrooms cook and release a juice. Pour in white wine and cook for another five minutes so that wine reduces and alcohol is cooked off. Add 2 ½ cups of broth, Cashew milk, Bragg seasoning, thyme and salt and pepper. With the last ½ cup of vegetable broth add the arrowroot flour to it and stir until smooth and no lumps remain. Using a slotted spoon, remove enough of the mushrooms so that when you puree the soup, you can add them back to give the soup some texture. Slowly pour broth/arrowroot mixture to pot and stir quickly as soup thickens. Using a hand blender, puree the broth and mushrooms left in pot until smooth. If you set aside some mushrooms, add them back to the pot. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add a dollop of thinned Spread Em to each serving for garnish and added taste. Enjoy!