Healthy Diet: Mushroom Spinach Soup
Posted on Apr 04, 2016
Posted in: Healthy Diet
Mushroom Spinach Soup
Adapted slightly from the NYT
I just got done eating this soup for dinner and it was too good not to share it with you. I know we are supposed to be eating all things vegetable in celebration of Spring but the mercury hovered at 32 degrees all day and I needed something to take the edge off. Mostly I am annoyed at the cold weather and soups just make me feel better. Plus, my feet have been cold all day. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that I refused to wear socks because I am in denial that winter keeps dragging on. This soup was just the thing to lift my spirits. It came together easily and the Middle Eastern spices made the whole house fragrant.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 ¼ pounds mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, oyster, chanterelles and shiitake), chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground allspice
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups chicken stock plus 1 cup of water
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 1 package of egg noodles
- Fresh lime juice, to taste
- Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
PREPARATION
- Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. You may need to cook your mushrooms in batches so they brown as opposed to steam. I browned mine in two batches, adding more butter and oil with the second batch. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl.
- After the mushrooms have been removed, add an additional tablespoon of oil to the pot. Add the onion, another generous pinch of salt and cook until softened about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 30-60 seconds. Return all mushrooms to the pot and stir in tomato paste, thyme, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice and pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in 4 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of water, scrapping the bottom of the pot as you add. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook gently for 15 minutes. Add the egg noodles and baby spinach and let cook an additional 7-8 minutes with the lid on.
- Before serving squeeze in lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve with dollops of yogurt if you’d like.