Golden Mushroom Soup… plant-based and oil-free!

Hello cherished readers! Been a few days, I know. I have been flat out working on my first cookbook for ya’ll. I’m allowed to say “ya’ll” now, even though I’m a native New Yorker because I live in North Carolina (smile). Anyway, first draft of the series is DONE. Whew. I’m dead tired and need a break away from this computer! But, alas, my commitment to continued sharing of recipes with you will not allow it.

Here is a beautiful soup, isn’t it? Golden Mushroom. I think that Campbell’s had or has one. Wait. Am I allowed to use their name? Better not. Well, my dad used to use it as a marinade for flank steak. Ugh. Seriously, that’s the only time I’ve ever come near it. Whoa. Okay, I had to do it. I just went out and looked up the ingredients on the “red and white canned” version… first thing I found was the sodium content. Would you believe 750mg in one serving, which they call ½ cup? Who has ½ cup of soup as a serving anyway? Most people will consume at least one cup per serving so that’s 1500mg of sodium… in ONE CUP! That’s more sodium than I consume in a whole day. Oh, my. The ingredients themselves? You don’t wanna know. But I’m going to tell you anyway. First ingredient is beef stock. A little further down the list is: vegetable oil (corn, cottonseed, canola and/or soybean), margarine (corn, cottonseed, canola and/or soybean oil). I’m not kidding here, oil and margarine! … beef fat, and, let’s not forget the monosodium glutamate (MSG) right there in unabashed black and white. They don’t even try to disguise it. So it’s basically, oil, oil and fat with some mushrooms and a ton of salt. They should not be allowed to call this food.

Okay, I’m done ranting. Now I will gloat about this soup. It’s magical. It’s gorgeous and it’s loaded with nutrients! How does it get that golden hue? Carrot juice. Dr. Fuhrman turned me on to using carrot juice in soup bases and boy, does it ever deliver on flavor. So go grab some carrots and start juicing for this yummier than yummy soup. You’re gonna love this one.

Ingredients:

1 pound mushrooms (any kind or mix and match)
1 small onion, diced
2 cups fresh carrot juice (Don’t have a juicer? That’s okay, most grocery stores sell fresh carrot juice now! Look in the produce section.)
1 cup water
1 cup raw cashews
2 TBS Spike salt-free seasoning
2 cups cooked rice (optional but creates a nice main dish—filling!—soup)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground thyme (or fresh)
1 tsp tamari or other low sodium soy sauce (optional)

Directions:

Water sauté the onions, mushrooms and spices in a soup pot until the onions are tender.
Blend the cashews and water in a high powdered blender. If your blender is not high powered, soak the cashews for 4 hours prior.
Add the cooked rice if using, blended cashews and carrot juice to the pot and heat until warm.