Ok, friends!
I have become a fan of a great food blog called Joy The Baker http://www.joythebaker.com/. She’s hilarious, and she’s darn good at what she does.
I got the vegan cream of mushroom soup recipe that I made for the retreat last weekend from her blog, and as I had so many requests for it, I have pasted it for you below! I encourage you to check out her blog and become a follower. You will be hooked!
Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cashew Cream
Makes about 18 cups (12 people)
For the Soup:
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium yellow onion, chopped
9 garlic cloves, minced
3 pounds cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Amino Acids)
3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (vegan please)
about 3 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
9 cups vegetable broth
salt to taste
For the Cashew Cream:
1 1/2 cup raw cashews
1 1/2 cup water
*Substitute Cashew Cream with 3/4 cup half and half or 8 ounces of silken tofu
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions to hot oil and saute until translucent and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook until mushrooms are cooked and broken down, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add cracked pepper and vegetable stock and cook at a simmer until mushrooms are completely soft. This took me about 10 to 15 minutes.
While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream. In a blender, combine raw cashews and water. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into a measuring cup and set aside. Don’t worry about washing the blender… we’re going to use it to blend the soup.
When mushrooms are cooked through, add about one third of the soup to the blender. Hot soup rises high in the blender so definitely be careful how high you fill the blender. Blend soup on low, increasing the speed to high, until no large mushroom chunks remain. Pour blended soup into a clean pot or large bowl. Blend the remaining soup in batches. *If using silken tofu instead of cashew cream. Blend the silken tofu in with the mushrooms and broth.
Add the cashew cream to the blended soup and stir to incorporate.
Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot that you cooked the soup in. In batches, pour the blended soup into the fine mesh strainer and work the soup through the strainer with a rubber spatula. Don’t use a wooden spoon… you could get splinters in your soup… seriously. Heat and serve the strained soup. Or place in a freezer safe container for a few weeks down the road.
Let me know how it turns out!!
Love always,
Lauren
xxx
