Creamy Mushroom Vegetable Soup

Enticing soup ready to go!

Don't be mislead by the word 'Creamy'. It is the healthiest soup you can have in the winter. With temperatures dropping way low, I am automatically drawn toward soup preparations at home. In winter we have less exposure to Sun reducing Vitamin D production in our body. Vitamin D rich food helps in this season.

With very few vegetables, this soup is easy to prepare. Most of the soup recipes that I see use  store bought vegetable stalk. I'm not a fan of using canned items. The downside of not using  canned stalk is that you need to simmer the soup for a longer duration so that the juice of the vegetables ooze and mix with the soup. That's the secret, the slower the cooking the tastier the soup. So here is my mushroom soup recipe.....

Main ingredients

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serving size: 4

Ingredients

• Button mushrooms - 4 no
• Green beans - 5 or 6 in no
• Carrot - 1/2 medium sized
• Corn kernels - 1 tbsp (or more if you want)
• Onion - 1/2 medium sized
• Butter - 1/4 stick size(2 tbsp)
• Rice flour - 1 tbsp (You can use all-purpose flour too)
• Milk - 3/4 cup(I used 2 % milk)
• Salt  to taste
• Pepper - 1/4 tsp(freshly ground)

Note:

• Fresh mushrooms and vegetables enhances the taste of the soup. I had tried using mushrooms in a pack and the fresh ones sold loose. The soup prepared with the loose ones was tastier than the packed ones. Look for the package date when buying packed mushrooms.

Preparation

1. Chop the onions, carrots, and beans and set it aside.
2. Rinse and chop the mushrooms into bigger pieces.
3. Saute the mushrooms in 1/4 of the butter cube, for about 2 minutes or until water in the mushroom is all gone. Remove it from the stove and allow it to cool.

Saute the chopped vegetables and onions in butter

Cooking

1. Bring a thick bottom vessel to warm on medium heat.
2. Add the remaining butter and when it starts to melt, add the onions and saute for 1 minute until it turns translucent.
3. When the onions are just turning golden brown, add the chopped beans, carrot and about 1/4 tsp of salt, and saute for another minute.
4. Take a scoop of this sauteed vegetables and add it to a mixie/blender along with the sauteed mushrooms.

   

   Grind the sauteed mushrooms and a scoop of sauteed vegetables

5. To the remaining sauteed vegetables, add rice flour and frozen corn kernels and give a good mix.
6. Add milk, 3 cups of water and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil.
7. Meanwhile, grind the sauteed mushroom and vegetables to either puree or chunky depending on how you want it. I make it to puree so that my kids don't  leave out the mushrooms chunks.
8. Once the soup boils, add the pureed mushroom, and vegetables. Simmer the soup on low-medium heat for 10 minutes. Check for salt and add more as required. 
9. The mushroom soup is now ready to be served hot.

Add rice flour, milk and ground vegetables paste to get the creamy consistency

Nutritional facts

Mushroom is a power house of nutrition with rich anti-oxidants, Vitamin D, B12,and protein to name a few. They boost our immune system which is very much needed in cold weather. Mushrooms also aid in weight loss. The beta-carotene in carrots gets converted into

Enjoy the hearty soup with garlic bread !!!

Vitamin A in the liver which helps in improved vision, specially night vision. Green beans have beta-carotene, iron, anti-oxidants, and dietary fiber that helps reduce the toxin exposure time of colon. Corn is also rich in fiber. Milk with its protein and Vitamin A helps in rejuvenating cells and improving your vision.

Without any store bought stalk or creamer, this healthy and hearty mushroom soup with staple vegetables proves to be heart warming on a cold weather day. I am sure you will love this soup. Let me know your comments and suggestions....

You may also be interested in these recipes:

Minestrone soup

Pepper-Garlic Rasam

Kollu Rasam (Horsegram Soup)