Meatless Monday: Cream of Mushroom Soup [Blog]

Have you ever had a cream soup that was so good you groaned? Me too, and this is it! It is not low fat, which may be why it makes me groan, but if you want to make it more diet friendly you could substitute fat free Greek yogurt for the heavy cream. I’m not positive if you will still groan, however. You decide.

This is so easy it’s ridiculous, like why wasn’t I making this all my life? I’ll bet you will wonder the same thing. Here’s what you need to gather together:

• 1 pound regular white mushrooms
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp minced shallots
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp dry thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water
• Minced parsley for garnish

The How-to (serves 4)

1. In food processor, coursely chop mushrooms and lemon juice.
2. Melt butter in a 4-5 qt saucepan and lightly saute shallots on medium heat. Add mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf, saute over moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid that is released from the mushrooms disappears.
3. Add salt, pepper, cream and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add cornstarch and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Season to taste.
5. Add lemon juice to taste. Garnish with parsley.

Wonderful for a chilly fall evening and I just had a bowl for lunch at work. Yum, let me know if you groaned when you tasted it!