Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup

Have you ever been to a soup swap?  Before this past weekend, I would have answered no.  But I went to my first one on Sunday and one thing that I know is that it won’t be my last.

Here’s how it worked: my extremely fun and talented friend Victoria and her friend Erica decided to have a soup swap.  They had a lot of wonderful ladies over, we all brought one kind of soup, divided into four 1-quart containers.  We shared snacks, beautiful cookies, conversation, played a little soup trivia game and then literally swapped soup – and I came home with four 1-quart containers all filled with different kinds of soups from new friends.  Incredible idea, yes!

Annnnd I bet you can’t guess what I made.  If you chose chicken noodle soup, you are wrong.  Obviously, I made mushroom & wild rice soup.  I had planned to make my mom’s taco soup.  I have never blogged about it and I thought it would be the perfect soup to share because everyone I know loves it.

But then I saw the list and there were quite a few taco soups and tortilla soups.  And just that morning, Kiersten had posted this amazing creamy wild rice and mushroom soup that I couldn’t stop thinking about.  I put a few twists of my own to it, and here it is.  So easy and so extremely flavorful!

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Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Creamy and hearty soup with wild rice, caramelized mushrooms and creamy Greek yogurt.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil, divided
2 medium shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
20 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. white wine
salt + pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1 cheese rind (optional)
8 cups (64 ounces) vegetable broth
12 ounces low-fat Greek yogurt, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley + more for garnish

Directions:

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, celery, and carrots with a pinch of salt and cook, 3-5 minutes, until softened, translucent and fragrant. Reduce the heat to medium and add the additional 2 teaspoons of olive oil and the mushrooms and stir. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms are caramelized, about 20 minutes. Don’t rush this step!

Add the thyme and stir for about 30 seconds, until very fragrant. Sprinkle in the flour and stir well until the vegetables are coated and no streaks of dry flour remain. Return the heat to medium-high and pour in the wine, stir well and scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow the wine to simmer until slightly thickened and reduced.

Add the bay leave, cheese rind, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Stir the Greek yogurt well and then add to the soup with the parsley and cooked rice. Stir well to incorporate the yogurt. Bring the soup back to a simmer and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Season with pepper and additional salt as necessary.

Cassie's Notes:
A couple of readers have written back to say that their yogurt curdled when adding it to the soup. I have updated the recipe to instruct to use room temperature yogurt, and to remove the soup from the heat for a few minutes before adding the yogurt. If you are worried about the yogurt curdling, you could add a ladle-full of slightly cooled soup to the yogurt and stir well, and then add back into the soup. By doing this, you are "tempering" the yogurt in hopes that it will incorporate without curdling. Especially take this step if you use non-fat yogurt. Sour cream can also be subbed for the Greek yogurt.

Adapted from Eating Well via Oh My Veggies