nomeatbarefeet

It is fall. That means soups and stews and all things warm and comfy. As the weather cools off we enjoy making dishes that sooth the chill in your bones and in your soul…after all, when you come back in from a day of teaching children or running trails there is a need from some whole-body warmth.

To that end, this might be the best damn recipe we have made.

Cream of Mushroom soup has been something sorely missed by both of us, so when we found this recipe we jumped on it, tweaked it, and made it our own. The mushrooms are the star of this dish, adding such an earthy richness. Of course, dried mushrooms can be a bit gritty, so do the best you can to pick out any really dirty ones.

***Note: We usually double this recipe!***

Ingredients

• Splash of olive oil.
• 1 cup of cashews (plus just enough water to soak them in)
• 1 package of dried porcini mushrooms (1 oz.), chopped
• 2 C. vegetable stock
• 1 medium onion
• 8 oz. mushrooms (crimini, bellas, white, whatever you want or have around)
• 1 tsp Herbs de Provence*
• 1 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• splash of sherry vinegar**
• scallions (for garnish, finely sliced)

*Herbs de Provence contains rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and savory; but if you don’t have it you can just use some, all, or just one of those spices.

**Make sure you get sherry vinegar and not sherry wine.

The How To

1. Make the cashew cream: blend cashews with the water until smooth:
2. Steep the dried mushrooms in the vegetable broth. Either heat the broth up on the stove or in the micro (no need to be precise in temp). Steep for 30 minutes or so. Drain the mushrooms; Save the broth. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the mushrooms; chop them and set aside.
3. Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent.
4. Add the mushrooms, Herbs de Provence, and salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have released a bit of liquid.
5. Add the sherry vinegar, then pour in the broth and add the chopped dried mushrooms.
6. Stir in the cashew cream. Adjust the thickness by adding some water or alt-milk if necessary.
7. Let cook on low to heat through. (Don’t raise the temp too high or the cashew cream might begin to burn on the bottom of the pan.)
8. Top with scallions (if desired).

Thanks to Michelle’s tiny kitchen for the inspiration for this recipe.