Sunday Supper: Raw Mushroom Soup

Adapted from the Simple Warm Live Mushroom Broth, With Ginger & Garlic recipe at LiveGreenSmoothieDiet.com.

I made some modifications to the recipe and it has a 5 out of 5 rating. I didn't tell my children what the broth was made from because I knew they would balk at it.

Reviews

Oldest Child: YUM!

Middle Child: TASTY!

Youngest Child: I LOVE YOUR SOUP!!!11!!!!

I did sort of lie to them and call it "Secret Ingredient Soup" - an homage to Kung Fu Panda - but I don't think they cared. And well, since I did keep the main ingredient secret... Well...

But you, dear readers, will get the inside scoop on what makes this soup so amazing.

I started with one decent size King Oyster Mushroom.

My kids don't generally like them cooked in the traditional recipe with pork and Shanghai Choy, so I was taking a chance. I had one left from the last time we cooked and it was going to go bad so, waste not, want not. I cut it into 1" chunks and tossed it into my blender.
Following the mushroom was 2 decent sized cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of sea salt, 4 teaspoons of Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce. I'm specifically calling out a particular brand of soy sauce for it's flavour and color. Next up was 1 tablespoon of Ginger Oil since I was flat out of fresh ginger. Which is practically a crime in an Asian household, I guess. Following on the heels of the Ginger Oil was Olive Oil (1 tbsp). I wanted to put some shallots in, but all mine had gone soft and ucky. So I substituted about 1/2 a small yellow organic onion minced. 4 cups of filtered water topped this melange off and away it went spinning around until everything was blended smooth.

I poured the lot into my saucepan and set it on med-high while I chopped up 3 baby portabella mushrooms, 1 green onion and the leftover heart of one head of organic baby lettuce. By the time my garnish was chopped, the soup was warm but not hot. I dished up and photographed the lot and called everyone to the table. Total time of prep to eating? 15 minutes. Now THAT is my kind of meal.

We also had some Terra Chips for some crunch to go along with it. These were a new variety to us, and also a HUUUUUGE hit. And they sure beat the hell out of your typical tater chip. In fact, The Boy is still trying to sneak those chips off the dining room table. He thinks no one notices, but he's wrong, so wrong. But I'll let him have his little fantasy. After all, he's eating vegetables and there's NOTHING at all wrong with that.

The neatest thing of all is that the soup is chock full of anti-inflammatory foods. And they're still raw, to boot! I'm getting back on my raw food journey this week and I though that this would be a great way to do so. I've come to the serious realization that when I eat conventional food, I get sick. My body starts to break down in a bad way. When I eat mostly raw and organic foods, I feel better. Gee, I wonder why...

Today's New Thing: Acai Berry juice. I got some sort of Acai/Pomegranate juice thing at the store since I've been hearing awesome stuff about it's anti-inflammatory, "superfood" status. Well, let me tell you what... That stuff is SWEET with a capital "If I don't cut this with water I'm going to end up in a diabetic coma" sweetness. SRSLY. 2-3 ounces of that madness with another 4-6 ounces of water makes it drinkable. And I'm a girl who LURVES that sugary goodness known as Southern Sweet Tea. So you KNOW that Acai berry stuff is suh-weet. Although, I must say that a mixture of 1 part Acai berry juice, 1 part water and 2 parts Sangria sure sounds tasty...