Meatless Mondays: The Mushroom Soup

Now that my list of 30 Things to Make Before I Turn 30 is completed, I have moved on to "Meatless Mondays", where every most Mondays, I will attempt to post a "meatless" recipe. I did a little research and found there is a whole "Meatless Monday movement" going on, with celebrities, lots of food bloggers, and tons of scientific and medical data supporting the act of eating less meat. One thing I really am excited about is the environmental impact of going meatless once a week. Here are a couple of places you can check it out if you are interested:

• Meatless Mondays
• Wikipedia - Meatless Mondays
• Environmental Reasons for Meatless Mondays

I could go most days without eating meat, but for my wonderful hubby this would not a happy marriage make. He enjoys some meatless meals, but not all meatless. I have to make sure to incorporate things he likes in my meatless meals, like this mushroom soup from Tasty Kitchen. Hubby and I both love mushrooms and soup is one of his favorite things, too, so I knew this was going to be a good choice for my first Meatless Monday.

 The recipe recommended eating it with crusty French Bread to sop up the goodness, which is exactly what we did. This soup is rich, creamy, and filling. We ate it all in one night!

The Mushroom Soup

From aliciamosby on Tasty Kitchen

Serves 4

Printable Version

Ingredients

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 whole carrot, finely minced

1 whole celery stalk, finely minced

1 tablespoon garlic, crushed and minced

1 pound white mushrooms, sliced thin

4 ounces white wine

4 ounces tomato juice

4 ounces chicken broth (if you want to go completely vegetarian vegetable broth would work here too!)

1 pint heavy whipping cream (I used fat free half & half)

1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 teaspoon corn starch

1/4 cup water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in a Dutch Oven or large, deep pot. Add in the carrot and celery and allow to soften. 

Add garlic and mushrooms. Allow the to reduce and soften.

Pour in the wine and let it cook for a few minutes.Add the tomato juice and broth and raise heat to a boil. 

Boil for 5 minutes before adding the heavy cream and then bring to a soft boil. Grate the parmesan and add it to the pot. Allow to cook for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and blended into the soup. Add cornstarch to 1/4 cup of water and add to the soup.

Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with french bread or buttery crackers.