Do you have things in your head like the look of your dream house? Your dream wedding dress? Do you have the names of your nonexistent children all picked out?
I don’t have that. Like… at all.
Sometimes I feel like there’s a strange void in my girlbrain. But… I dunno.
I do have things in my head like… my dream pancake breakfast. My dream shopping website. My dream kitteh. And now… my dream winter soup.
So. At least there’s that.
I didn’t even like mushroom until a few years ago…. now here I am cooking down a whole pot of them.
They’re so pretty…. and they’re about to turn into a delicious brown gray mush.
This soup is creamy but vegan. Get with the program.
I blended raw cashews with water creating a rad Cashew Cream.
See what’s happening here? Divine.
Blended cashews help create a creamy, but still earthy soup. The soup doesn’t taste like mushroom and cashews blended up. Nope. The cashews disappear and just add a creaminess and very subtle sweetness.
The soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce in the soup really compliment the earthiness of the mushrooms. This soup is very simple and I think it’s just delicious.
Soup sucks without bread. I mean… come on.
Because I’m not actually vegan, I made a ridiculous herby garlic bread to go with my perfectly vegan soup.
So wrong. I know.
It was crazy good and I don’t feel bad at all.
Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cashew Cream
Makes about 6 cups
For the Soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tablespoons soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Amino Acids)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (vegan please)
about 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
salt to taste
For the Cashew Cream:
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
*Substitute Cashew Cream with 3/4 cup half and half or 8 ounces of silken tofu
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions to hot oil and saute until translucent and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more. Add the mushrooms, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook until mushrooms are cooked and broken down, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add cracked pepper and vegetable stock and cook at a simmer until mushrooms are completely soft. This took me about 10 to 15 minutes.
While the soup simmers, prepare the cashew cream. In a blender, combine raw cashews and water. Blend on high until smooth. Pour into a measuring cup and set aside. Don’t worry about washing the blender… we’re going to use it to blend the soup.
When mushrooms are cooked through, add about one third of the soup to the blender. Hot soup rises high in the blender so definitely be careful how high you fill the blender. Blend soup on low, increasing the speed to high, until no large mushroom chunks remain. Pour blended soup into a clean pot or large bowl. Blend the remaining soup in batches. *If using silken tofu instead of cashew cream. Blend the silken tofu in with the mushrooms and broth.
Add the cashew cream to the blended soup and stir to incorporate.
Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot that you cooked the soup in. In batches, pour the blended soup into the fine mesh strainer and work the soup through the strainer with a rubber spatula. Don’t use a wooden spoon… you could get splinters in your soup… seriously. Heat and serve the strained soup. Or place in a freezer safe container for a few weeks down the road.
Not So Vegan Herb Bread
1 fresh baguette
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste.
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
On a clean cutting board, use a fork to mash together softened butter, garlic, and chopped parsley. Once incorporated, drizzle the olive oil over the butter mixture and work in the olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and incorporate with the fork.
Slice baguette into thick slices, not slicing all the way through the loaf, but keeping the slices connected. Spread parsley butter in between bread slices. Wrap baguette in foil and bake for 10 minutes, or until butter is melted and fragrant.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Jessica @ bake me away!
I think when I was 6, I wanted sextuplets and had names picked out for each of them (half girls, half boys), and I’m sure they all started with the same letter. Umm, I don’t know what my problem was because ever since then, my girlbrain has been like yours.
As for this soup and bread, heck yes! I love mushrooms and have been wanting to experiment with cashew cream.
Bronwyn
Yum yum. Both of those look delcious. And as a non vegan myself, I see nothing wrong with combining them.
Veronica
Sounds amazing! My Worcestershire sauce has anchovies in it but they sell one at Trader Joe’s that’s vegetarian. I’m always looking for recipes to make for veggie dinner guests – I can’t wait to try this, especially the bread! Thank you!
Chihiro
I have my childrens’ names picked out. I vacillate between many versions of ideal future homes.
My girl brain is overactive!
Except it totally skipped over the healthy vegan soup part because I don’t like creamy soups and is fixating on a garlic bread craving.
Andrea Clawson
WOW! i am not a vegan but use to be. i wish i knew this recipe then. it would of been one of the BEST things i have ever eaten. LOL and yes the bread looks just divine. i am going to have to make this one!
Ashlae
I have a strange girlbrain, too. No wedding dress, no future home – but I do dream of recipes. And Joy, I have been wanting vegan cream of mushroom soup for so long. If I could reach through the screen and hug you, I would.
PS – if you soak the cashews in water for 4-5 hours, you get a super-amazing cashew cream (when blended). You can even make raw cheesecake. It’s divine.
Ryan @ Ryan's Baking Blog
I really love that photo of the bread slices lined up with the parsley butter in between!
Laura (Alwaysroom4dessert)
DELICIOUS!! Wow cashew cream.. genius! I’m so with you Joy, I only think of what my dream kitchen would look like and the only part of my wedding I have ever thought about is that the money I would spend on a dress would go towards a destination wedding in Tuscany and the only thing I care about is sitting at a long table overlooking a vineyard with a big bowl of family style pasta and carafe of wine. :)
Amanda (Eating Up)
That looks delicious! I lovvve mushrooms. So yummy.
All Adither
I want this. Right now.
Abigail @ Good to Think and Eat
Ingenious use of cashew cream! I am obsessed with the stuff but have never tried it in a savory dish. This post is super inspiring and I can’t wait to make the soup.
Sarah V.
This looks AMAZING! One (probably stupid) question – could I sub regular, dairy cream for the cashew cream? My husband is ALLERGIC to cashews, if you can believe it… I know. Tragic. He loves them, too, even though they make him very sick. Also, have you tried it un-strained, with a more rustic texture? Is the straining for anything other than a smooth texture?
joythebaker
half and half or silken tofu! i’ve amended the recipe!
also allergic
I am also dangerously allergic to cashews, but I LOVE mushrooms. I was initially really excited about this recipe from the title and photo, but totally FREAKED when I saw the cashews!! Thanks for adding the substitute option! I’ll have to give this recipe a try!!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen
Cashew cream, no there’s a new one on me! Being a cattle rancher I’m not really into Vegan, but your soup looks amazingly delicious and the bread too. You keep it interesting!
Amy
So…I don’t really like mushrooms, but this soup looks delicious!! And I’ve been trying to get over my weird food aversions (tomatoes were first…turns out I didn’t really dislike them, I had just never had a really GOOD tomato)…. so I think I will try it!
Thanks for all your awesome recipes!