Clean Cream of Mushroom Soup

Yesterday, we had our first 60 degree day of the year and it was like Spring. Today, it's back to our normal, overcast, rainy weather and I'm eating soup. I made a big batch of my newest favorite soup that is from Hannah Freese, RD, a healthy Cream of Mushroom soup. The reason she calls it "clean" is because it does not contain any toxic oils or sugar. (Toxic oils are soybean oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and safflower oil that all contribute to chronic inflammation.) I've made this recipe several times and it's my newest favorite soup. Since we've been pet-sitting a friend's dog this week, I decided to make this soup and give her some when she picked up the dog today so she'd have something to eat after being gone for a week. She texted me later and said the soup was the best mushroom soup she'd ever had! I agree so now I know it's not just me...I threw in some of my Japanese Milk Bread to go along with it to make a nice lunch for her. I'm getting really good at making this bread.

Now, I can say it goes very well with this Cream of Mushroom soup. (Did I really not know that?) I remember when I use to make our homemade Apple Butter, I would often include a loaf of Great Harvest Old Fashioned white bread with it. Sometimes, certain things just taste better with a good loaf of bread but now my favorite bread is this Japanese Milk Bread. The trick to keeping this soup "clean" is using a broth that does not have sugar in it. Even some organic broths have sugar of some form but I've found that Kirkland Brand Organic Chicken Stock is "clean". This recipe calls for 4 cups of broth so that's one quart of Kirkland chicken stock. I make my own chicken stock and freeze it in 1 or 2 cup jars but when a recipe calls for 4 cups, then I use my Kirkland chicken stock. Costco sells many different types of broth so you need to read the ingredient list on the labels. It's the Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock that is the "clean" one.

This recipe says that it makes 4 servings but Bruce and I ate almost the whole recipe. So, if it's a side dish, then it might be 4 servings but if it's the main dish, probably more like 2 or 3 servings. It tastes so good that it's hard to stop eating it! Serving sizes can be deceiving so just keep that in mind making this Clean Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Serves 4

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup leeks, cleaned and sliced in half moons

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. white button mushrooms, quartered or sliced

3 Tbsp. coco aminos (you can also use soy sauce or tamari) I buy this at Costco. too.

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp black pepper

1. In a large saucepan, place the butter, leeks, and garlic and sauté over medium heat.

2. When the leeks have softened, add the quartered mushrooms.

3. Stir and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the coco aminos, soy sauce or tamari and chicken stock. Simmer for 15- 20 minutes.

4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the cream and pepper. Blend together using an immersion blender until all ingredients are pureed. You can also use a blender which works well blending the soup in batches.

5. Blend less for more of a chunky soup. Set aside some of the sautéed mushrooms and serve a spoonful with the soup.

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