soup

Meaty Mushroom Bisque

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Been awhile since I posted recipes here – mostly as I was experimenting and the results were less then stellar.  But I had another out-of-the park experience by fusing a few recipes together: Meaty Mushroom Bisque.

I saw a mushroom soup recipe, but don’t like things loaded with salty vegetable broth, and as I had a portobella recpie that made mushrooms taste meaty, and found a potato made things creamy (without using fatty cream), I kitbashed the first recipe, the second recipe, and a veggie broth herb mix substitute I’ve been trying (basically oregano, basil, sage, dill, thyme, marjoram, garlic, and onion make a good broth substitute)

  • 2 Tbsp Spread/Butter substitute
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp crushed garlic
  • 1 1/2 lbs mushrooms, mixed
  • 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp dried basil
  • 2 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1 large potato, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dill weed
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp sage
  • 1/4 tsp ground marjoram
  1. Saute onions in butter/spread until they soften and brown a bit (5-7 min)
  2. Add garlic, mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano, and soy sauce.  Saute until the mushrooms soften.  This is usually 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add all else, stir.
  4. Lower heat and bring to a simmer.  Cover. Stir every few minutes.
  5. When everything is softened (about 20-30 minutes).  Remove from heat.
  6. Let cool, somewhat, then puree in blender or with immersion blender.
  7. Reheat.  Serve.

Makes 4 large main-course servings or 6-8 side servings.

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Recipe: Creamy Vegetable Soup

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This recipe takes a little explanation.  I cook mostly vegetarian/vegan for many reasons, but also work to diversify my protein sources because it’s too easy to rely on beans (and legumes), tofu, tempeh, and seitan.  So I try to work with higher-protein vegetable sources too.  That’s one reason I keep parboiled spinach in my freezer – heat that sucker up, add a little lemon juice and pepper, and wham, 5 grams of tasty protein.

This dish is a kitbash of several dishes, centered around a recipe that used creamed vegetables for a soup.  My goal was to get a decent-tasting cream of vegetable soup to use as a main dish with one or two other vegetables.

 

  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium chopped onion
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 3 cups broccoli florets
  • 2 medium potatoes, sliced
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 tsp sage leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp marjoram leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp ground thyme
  • 1 tsp basil leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp oregano leaves, dried
  • 1 tsp dill, ground
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  1. Saute onions in 1 tbsp olive oil until transparent.
  2. Add mushrooms, broccoli, potatoes, water, sage, marjoram, thyme, basil, oregano, dill, pepper, salt
  3. Bring to boil, then simmer until everything is soft – about 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally and break vegetables apart – when they do break up easy you’re done.
  4. Puree in blender or in immersion blender.
  5. Add lemon juice, paprika, remaining olive oil.
  6. Reheat until hot.  Note this doesn’t take long, and that it will make really “gloopy” bubbles if you heat to quickly and splatter like crazy.

The results?

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