Mmm...I think I'm ready for fall now.
A first blog post generally requires balloons and confetti, but I’d rather not have to clean up after that garbage so let’s get right to the good stuff.
Last week the Pacific Northwest suddenly decided it was fall, seemingly overnight, thus deeming it soup weather once again. So, I made one of my old-reliables.
Ingredients:
2 pints (approximately) shiitake mushrooms
2 cups red lentils (rinsed thoroughly and drained)
2 T minced fresh turmeric
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut cream (preferably with the least ingredients; mine had only coconut and water)
1-3 cups vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
Peel and mince the turmeric. Add to stockpot with mushrooms, lentils, basil, and coconut cream. Cook until the mushrooms start to get juicy and the coconut cream completely melts. Then dilute with as much vegetable stock as you prefer. You can make it more of a stew with less liquid, or more of a soup by adding more. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked through.
A note about the mushrooms: I generally use shiitakes in this recipe because they’re heartier and a nice, meaty mushroom. This time I also used about a cup of blue oysters as well. You can use whatever mushrooms you’d like. This week, I got my mushrooms from Cascadia Mushrooms at the Everett Farmers Market.
Ingredients before being cooked down.
Blue Oysters. Look at these beauties!