a pusher love girl soup

i had two lovely debuts last saturday:

#1 my lovely homemade food rev banner - i know, i'm nuts... but i have a lot of fabric scraps and my brother in law kevin made me a super rad stencil, so i just HAD to.  (thanks a bazillion mom for teaching me how to sew such a long time ago!)  abbie's leapard duck tape holds it up quite well. ha!

#2 my delicious dairy free, gluten free cream of mushroom soup - it knocked people's socks off and i was shocked at how excited people were that it was df and gf! i had a good 10-15 people who could not have eaten it the "normal" way as they were either vegan, cutting out diary or living gluten free.  i hope you'll make it sooner than later in your kitchens whatever which way you like it... you could make it and replace that canned cream of mushroom soup from your favorite family recipe (green bean casserole much?  mmmmmm-kay?)  check out this great "toxins vs traditions" article by the food babe.

to the mullies with a cream of mushroom soup

a few T's of extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

3.5 c sliced cremini mushrooms divided

1 onion sliced thin

2 celery ribs sliced thin + leaves chopped

3 cloves garlic sliced thin

1/2 tsp dried thyme (1 T fresh)

2.5 T gluten free flour

1/2 c light coconut milk (you can add as much as 3/4 c here)

2 c organic rice milk (or almond milk)

2.5 qt (2 cartons) organic vegetable stock

sage infused sea salt (my dear friend terri also shows you how to make more homemade herbal salts here!  she knocks my socks off - i'm making every single one for my pantry!!!)

freshly ground pepper

freshly chopped parsley (optional as my kids would give me a thumbs down on the "grass")

heat oil in a large stock pot and add your 2.5 cups of the mushrooms, sliced onions, celery, garlic and thyme. (reserve 1 cup of sliced mushrooms to sauté on the side with oil + s&p.  you can add as a garnish later. however, if you have eaters who do not like the texture of whole mushrooms, simply skip this step). cook vege low and slow with the lid on until onions are translucent and juices have released (about 10-15 min). add 2 T flour to vege and mix for a few minutes - it should be clumpy and pasty = we are forming a "roux". slowly pour in coconut milk and stir until a smooth paste forms.  next, slowly pour in rice milk ad stir until mixture begins to thicken. pour in stock, mix and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 15 min. using a handheld immersion blender, whiz up until silky (or transfer to blender). season to taste with sage salt and freshly ground pepper. garnish with parsley + some sautéed mushrooms. enjoy a cozy crock or two with your friends and family.

see you again this saturday at dakotah's indoor farmer's market for three lovely thanksgiving inspired tastes:

pomegranate + mango + apple salsa (inspired by 52 new foods cookbook)

a raw thanksgiving stuffing/dressing (inspired by kimberly snyder)

apple + orange + cranberry relish (inspired by jamie oliver)

xoxoL


ps

big huge thanks to ulysses and the other fab MHS national honor society volunteers who helped me cook up a storm and pass out greens from the fremont community garden!