Soup To Soothe The Soul

We are keeping on with things.  It's hard in the morning not having the usual Moose things to do, and I miss him sitting on the couch.  He'd sit next to me, and every so often he'd push his little body up against my leg, and it was dang cute.  

Anyway we still need to eat, and I always like to eat soup to soothe my broken heart.  We had a bunch of mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used, and we happened to have almost all the ingredients for this soup.  When I want to make a soup, the first place I look is The Soup Bible.  I love this cookbook, 250 pages of awesome soup recipes.  Any soup ingredient you want to use, there is probably a soup for it in this book.  Today I'm sharing a recipe called Mushroom, Celery, and Garlic Soup.

Ingredients:

- 4 1/2 chopped mushrooms

- 4 celery stalks

- 3 garlic cloves

- 3 tablespoons of white merlot (the book calls for dry sherry or white wine)

- 3 cups chicken stock

- 2 table spoons Worcestershire sauce

- 1 teaspoon nutmeg (the book says freshly grated, I wanted a milder flavor)

Directions:

Clean and chop the mushrooms, and celery stalks, and garlic cloves.  Then place them in a large saucepan, with the white merlot, or whatever alcohol you use.  Let cook, covered for 30 - 40 minutes, or until tender, stir occasionally.  Once cooked pour into a food processor with 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock, and blend until smooth.  Pour back into the large saucepan, add the other 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock, worcestershire sauce, and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil, and add salt and fresh ground black pepper to season.  

Serve warm.  It had a tiny bit of a kick to it.  The soup was fresh and earthy tasting.  A great vegetarian option.  

Hope you enjoyed, and happy Nom Nom Monday, chris.  

Fresh Herb Dijon Mustard Dressing

On hot summer days all I want to eat is fresh picked salads, fruits, and veggies.  If it involves using the stove or oven, I'm not interested in cooking it.  So today I have a super simple salad dressing, a Fresh Herb Dijon Mustard Dressing.  Happy Nom Nom Monday!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-  1 Small Lemon

-  1/4 Cup jammed pack with fresh Basil

-  2 Tablespoons fresh Mint (I used Orange Mint)

-  2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (I used a tablespoon of store brand, and a tablespoon of fancy Sweet Vidalia Onion Mustard)

-  1 Small Clove of Garlic

-  1/4 Cup Cold Water

-  3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I only had regular olive oil)

Directions:

Pick the basil and mint you'll need.  I've made this dressing before with parsley instead of basil, and it was super yummy too.  Experiment with different herbs, that would compliment the dijon mustard flavor.  Experimenting with different dijon mustards would be fun too!  

Prepare your herbs and clean everything.  Then squeeze the juice out of the small lemon.  Dump all the ingredients expect for the olive oil into a blender.  Blend everything super smooth, about two minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, and then slowly add in the olive oil.  Mix for another minute or so.

Pour into a salad dressing container.

It's a lovely creamy green color.  It's a great flavor for salad dressing.  Usually I'm one to view lettuce as the perfect vehicle to transport blue cheese into my system, but this dressing could have me moving over to the healthier side of salad dressings.  Even my grandmother who is a SUPER picky eater said she liked it, and she's not one to hide her true feelings about anything.  She would definitely tell me if it was gross.  So if you have a picky eater at home, and it's hard to find healthy salad dressings they like, give this a try!  Hope you enjoy!  

Happy DIYing, chris