Vegan cream of mushroom soup: a vitamin D powerhouse

Seattle is having the most slit-your-wrists depressing June since… ever. Grey is the color of the season, and King 5 reported via Twitter that the temperature has not risen above 75 degrees in 271 days– extreme even for a city legendary for its rain. Nirvana fan or not, it’s enough to make you want to blow your head off with a shotgun.

Unfortunately, the cloudy malaise sweeping over the city may affect residents’ physical state as well as mental: days without sunshine can lead to a vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to softened bones, depression, a lowered immune system, increased multiple sclerosis risk, cancer, and heart disease (if you believe Wikipedia).

Also unfortunately, there are not many natural vegan forms of vitamin D. Several online publications, however, report that naturally-dried shiitake mushrooms are excellent sources of this vital nutrient; these naughty-sounding fungi soak up UV rays faster than a Jersey Shore castmember.

Soy milk is also a good source of vitamin D. Correction: soy milk with vitamin D added is also a good source of vitamin D.

I’ve combined these two powerhouses into a potent concoction that will fight Ricketts while also warming you, body and soul. Serve with a side of crusty bread and a multivitamin.

Vegan Cream of Mushroom soup
serves two

1/2 cup dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted in 1/2 cup hot water and drained, reserving the liquid
1 cup chopped pioppini mushrooms
1 cup sliced crimini or button mushrooms
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbs Earth Balance, divided
1 tbs flour
2 cups unsweetened vitamin D-enriched soy milk
salt, pepper, parsley and other spices to taste

Saute the mushrooms and chopped shallot in 1 tbs Earth Balance. Remove from heat and set aside.
Make a roux with flour and the remaining Earth Balance; add reserved mushroom water and stir until blended.
Add soy milk, salt, pepper and other spices, and mushroom/shallot mixture. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve.

Tags: comfort food, mushroom, Seattle, soy milk

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 at 6:43 AM and is filed under soup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.