Dairy-Free Creamy Mushroom Soup

At home, I try to cook without dairy, but it’s generally not the end of the world if I eat some — in moderation — while out. And by moderation I mean some butter on the food, a splash of milk, or a nibble of cheese. But I wouldn’t eat a creamy soup.

Avoiding dairy seems really restricting at times. Passing up homemade cheesecake at family functions is the worst. And I always hesitate before saying no to whipped cream.

A few weeks ago I had a craving for one of those dairy-filled foods that I had almost completely forgotten about. Cream of mushroom soup! (Which is weird to me because I refused to eat mushrooms as a child, and couldn’t eat the dairy by the time I was an adult)

Anyway, I set out to make a dairy-free version, which could easily be made vegetarian by substituting vegetable stock.

My initial thoughts:

• I made wayyyy too much. I had satisfied the craving by the third bowl of soup and didn’t want to eat any more. I would divide the recipe in half next time.
• A variety of mushrooms would have made the soup more flavourful.
• I would make this again, but as an appetizer, not a stand alone meal.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds mushrooms (I used regular white mushrooms because they were on sale. Next time I would use a mixture. Maybe some shiitake, oyster, enoki and crimini)
• 1 spanish onion, diced
• 2 cans of coconut cream
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

Directions

1. Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to frying pan and sautee the onion until translucent, then set aside.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil to frying pan and sautee the mushrooms, then set aside.
3. When onions are cooled, blend with 1 cup of the chicken stock. Add a bit more chicken stock if needed to blend until smooth.
4. When mushrooms are cooled, blend with 3 cups of the chicken stock. Add coconut cream if needed to blend until smooth.
5. Add blended onions and mushrooms to a cooking pot. Add any remaining coconut cream and the thyme.
6. Cook until hot, then serve and enjoy!