Plant-Based Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in the Slow Cooker

Categories : easy peasy, lent, main dishes, pasta & rice, potatoes & vegetables, Recipes, Slow Cooker @en, soups & salads, vegetarian or vegan

A super comforting soup that comes together quickly and simmers all day in the slow cooker. Mushrooms, fresh and dried, red pepper and wild rice join forces with white wine, lemon, ginger, garlic and tarragon. The soy milk and nutritional yeast added at the end give that touch of creaminess which is always welcome in soup!

Plant-Based Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in the Slow Cooker www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: Two bowls of creamy mushroom and wild rice soup with red peppers, garnished with some slices of lemon. To the left a bowl with nutritional yeast flakes and a couple of vintage spoons. Everything is placed on a distressed wooden surface.

How is everyone holding up? If you follow me on social media you know I’ve had a few rants about all the “be positive” and “be productive” messages floating around out there. I won’t go into all that again, but I do feel I have to say one thing. This is a weird, scary, unreal, sad and lonely time for most people on the planet. There is no right way to get through it. And the worse thing anyone can be doing is feeling guilty that they aren’t “doing all the things they don’t normally have time for”. This is a crisis so if you can barely make yourself a sandwich, now is not the time to learn how to bake. If you can barely get out of bed, now is not the time to “build the body of your dreams” (actually it’s never the time for that load of cr@p). If you can barely write a shopping list for the week, now is not the time to write a book. It’s ok to feel bad, or sad, or helpless. And it’s ok to not be enjoying life under these circumstances.

Doing whatever gets you through the day, that’s the goal. And this looks different for each of us. For some it might be stress baking loaf after loaf of sourdough, for others it might be cleaning the house from top to bottom, for others it might be watching tv all day. Whatever you choose to do is fine. Just keep in mind that it might not be right for others. So whether you have a platform from which you “speak” to hundreds of people, or you’re just talking to one friend on the phone, be aware of what advice you are giving. And be mindful of how they might be feeling. Oh, right, it seems I did go into it after all, haha!

For me it’s a bit strange because I have yet to really feel the effects of self-isolation. I have been working from home for 7 years now and since I don’t live near the city and my friends, I wasn’t out all that much to begin with. I walked Westley every day of course, and that hasn’t changed. Maybe I would have taken him on a couple of different walks involving a car ride – which isn’t possible now, but in general life isn’t dramatically different on a practical level. Whenever I think about what’s going on though, that’s when it gets tough. It’s all pretty horrific, there’s no point in ignoring this fact.

You might be wondering if I stress-cook, or stress-bake. I don’t. I have indeed been cooking every day and we don’t order in now, but I’ve not felt the need to be a whirlwind in the kitchen. I’ve tested a couple of new recipes, easy and comforting stuff, and I hope I will still want to do that over the next couple of weeks. But I won’t push myself if I don’t.

Plant-Based Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup in the Slow Cooker www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: A close up of the creamy mushroom and wild rice soup with red peppers, garnished with some slices of lemon.

So here is one of the recipes I tested recently. During one of my shopping trips I diverted from my list and picked up a packet of oyster mushrooms. The original idea was to use them in something different, but I felt like soup (it’s actually quite cold here!) so I tried a version of this recipe. I really liked it, but I wanted to try it with portobellos too before making my mind up. I made a few more tweaks and here we are. It’s delicious. White wine, lemon, ginger, tarragon, a touch of marmite for depth (you can’t taste it don’t worry if you hate it!) and garlic, all pair with the mushrooms, red pepper and wild rice beautifully. Soy milk and nutritional yeast are added at the end and make this soup wonderfully creamy and comforting. It’s also extremely easy and requires minimal effort. If you feel like making some soup I highly recommend it.

Stay safe my friends!

Ingredients

60 gr onion, finely chopped
500 gr portobello mushrooms, chopped into large chunks
15 gr dried mushrooms, chopped
150 gr red bell pepper, sliced (or you can use carrot)
100 gr wild rice (100% wild, not a mix)
1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
1 ½ tsp flakey sea salt
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp marmite (you can’t taste it don’t worry)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp tarragon, dried
60 ml (1/4 cup) white wine (vegan-friendly if preferred)
45 ml (3 Tbs) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
30 ml (2 Tbs) olive oil
1 lt (4 cups) mushroom or vegetable stock, hot

To add towards the end:
240 ml (1 cup) soy milk, unsweetened (or oat milk would be nice), room temperature
60 ml (1/4 cup) nutritional yeast

Step 1

In the slow cooker pot combine the onion, portobello mushrooms, dried mushrooms (no soaking required), red pepper, wild rice, ginger, bay leaf, garlic, salt, mustard, marmite, lemon pepper, tarragon, wine, lemon juice, olive oil and mushroom or veggie stock. Stir and cook on low for 7 hours. Stir again a couple of times during cooking if possible.

Step 2

Add the soy milk and nutritional yeast, stir and turn the cooker to high. Cook for another 30 minutes to an hour to heat through and serve with extra lemon and lots of pepper.

Note: The wild rice will break up and soften quite a bit, this is normal for this amount of cooking time.

No ratings yet