Creamy Thyme Infused Portabella Mushroom & Rice Soup

I've been dreaming of making this soup for quite some time now, and finally I had the chance to attempt it tonight. Since going dairy free, I've missed some of the "creamy" soups like cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, etc.



While experimenting with new recipes I came up with a few ideas to replicate one of my favorites! I was quite happy with the results. It is a delicious creamy, savory mushroom soup.

I used three different ingredients to achieve the thick creamy broth. Potatoes, cauliflower and coconut milk! You'd have no idea that there were potatoes and especially cauliflower in the soup! I steamed them both until they were soft, pureed them in a blender and added them to the broth. They thicken it quite nicely, and the addition of the coconut milk makes the broth rich like regular cream.

I decided to add rice to this to make it a more hearty meal. I decided to use some black "Forbidden" rice instead of brown rice. And, to add another level of flavor, I decided to infuse it with fresh thyme and peony white tea. I love the rice in the soup, it adds a good flavor and chewy texture. One thing I did not anticipate was that it would turn the entire soup dark! Before I added the rice it looked just like a normal creamy, grey, mushroom soup. You could simply use brown rice if you'd like the color to look more like a traditional creamy mushroom soup. I actually love the purplish black color of this soup, and the taste is everything you'd expect and more!

One of my favorite kitchen appliances that I've had for years is my Hamilton Beach Steamer. It steams rice, quinoa or veggies perfectly. It also has a tray for herbs if you want to infuse a flavor while you steam. It is a very inexpensive appliance, but so handy! You can easily toss your rice and water in, turn on the timer, go about the rest of your cooking and forget about it.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
5-6 garlic cloves minced
1 onion sliced
12-15 button mushrooms sliced
3 portabella mushrooms diced
6 cups water (plus more for rice and cauliflower)
1 can full fat coconut milk
3 bay leaves
10-15 sprigs of thyme
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste
1/2 cauliflower head
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups of forbidden (black) rice
1 pkt white peony tea

Directions:
For rice- begin steaming the rice first and everything else will be done about the time you need to add it (about 1 hour). If you have a rice cooker with a separate tray for infusing, add the thyme and packet contents of the tea to the tray. Steam as per directions. If you do not have a separate infusing tray, you could toss the sprigs of thyme and tea bag on top of the rice and remove them after cooking. Alternately, you can completely skip the infusing step if you like, or just infuse with the thyme, the choice is yours. This soup will be delicious either way!

For mushroom broth- in a large stock pot, saute the garlic and onion until soft, then add in mushrooms, 6 cups of water, coconut milk, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and 3-4 sprigs of thyme. Bring to a boil and slowly simmer while rice cooks. Remove sprigs of thyme after 20 minutes or so, before you add in the puree and rice.

For cauliflower-potato puree, in a sauce pan with a vegetable steamer, add the cubed potatoes and cauliflower and steam until potatoes are tender. Once these are soft, put them in a blender and puree until they are smooth and creamy.

After the cauliflower-potato puree is done, remove the sprigs of thyme and add the puree slowly into the broth and mix in well. Add in rice and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with fresh thyme leaves as a garnish if desired. Serves 8-12.