Vegan mushroom and wild rice soup

Although a wild rice soup has never been part of my culture, it is just the sort of hearty soup I love.  It is very creamy - too much dairy for my liking in fact but delicious with a vegan creaminess.  And the wild rice and vegies were nubbly and satisfying.  It is almost a year since I made this recipe, which I have dredged up from my drafts, but I still remember the soup fondly.  Every now and again I have intended to post it and then been distracted. 

It might seem wrong that I didn't actually have any wild rice when I made this but I had lots of leftover red basmati rice.  It had some of the nubbly quality that I like in wild rice.  And it had to be used.  It was more annoying that as I was about to make it, I discovered I had no white miso.  This is something I usually have about the house but had run out of.  The white miso is key to the unmami flavour of the slightly cheesy cashew bean sauce.

And that is all my notes say about this soup other than that it was lovely and creamy.  I love the speckled look of this creamy soup.  It was a pretty crazy time at the end of last year.  There have been many changes since then and I hope that some might help my life settle and make room for more cooking.

Soups have always been a favourite and easy meal but I just haven't made many lately.  However I am starting to make a few more casseroles baked in the oven.  As it comes into spring I hope to have a few more salads and stirfries.  And I would love to make this soup again.  One day!

More wild rice recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe blog:

Asparagus, artichoke and wild rice salad (gf, v)
Pumpkin, corn and wild rice chowder (gf, v)
Stuffed apples with wild rice, mushroom and cranberry nut roast (v)
Wild rice, cranberry, celery and walnut salad (gf, v)
Wild rice burgers

Vegan mushroom and wild rice soup
Adapted from The Kitchn and Yup It's Vegan

Cashew bean sauce:
3/4 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2 hours to overnight)
1 small cooked potato, chopped
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp white or yellow miso
400g tin of cannelini (or white) beans rinsed and drained

Soup:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced

4 celery stalks, diced

200g mushrooms, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 red capsicum, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup white wine
 (or more stock)
1 bay leaf

5 cups vegetable stock
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

4 cups cooked wild rice (or red basmati rice)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt, as required

[If your rice is not cooked, start cooking it before starting.]

First make the Cashew bean sauce.  Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  If you have a high speed blender you don't need to soak the nuts but you will need to add a bit of water to get it moving to make a smooth consistency.  

Now cook the soup.  Heat a stockpot on medium high heat.  Fry the onion and celery with a pinch of salt for 3-5 minutes.  Add mushrooms, carrot and capsicum and another pinch of salt.  Continue frying on medium heat for 15-20 min until browned on medium heat.  Add garlic and oregano and stir for about 30 minutes until fragrant. 

Add the white wine, bay leaf, stock (you can set aside a couple of cups to rinse out the blender when you add the cashew bean sauce), rosemary and cooked rice.  Simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until vegies are well cooked.  Add cashew bean sauce (if you have set aside some stock to rinse out the last bits of sauce from the blender) and pepper.  Check taste and adjust seasoning.  Serve with fresh parsley.

On the Stereo:
Talking with the Taxman about Poetry: Billy Bragg