Ingredients:
Mushrooms, chopped 1 1/2 cups
Carrots, chopped 1 1/2 cups
Celery, chopped 1 1/2 cups
Milk 1 cup
Corn starch 2 tbsp
Minced garlic 1 tsp
Salt 2 tsp
Pepper 1/2 tsp
We’re all gearing up for the new semester; with the whisper of fall in the air, it’s my favourite time of year. But as I’m writing this I’ve having a rough start to the season, being sick. To help soothe my predicament, I made myself some homemade soup. Here’s my lazy recipe for my fellow sicklings, or for folks who just need a quick meal.
Start by chopping a cup and a half of mushrooms into roughly centimetre-sized cubes. The recipe typically calls for fresh button mushrooms, cut up and fried until golden brown, but I like to use a dried mushroom mix which gives me a darker broth. If that’s too much effort, just clean them and throw them into the pot.
Next cut up your carrots and celery. Try to cut them, too, into pieces that are roughly a centimetre in width and length. This will help keep the cooking even for all the vegetables. Put all the ingredients into a pot with 6 cups of water, and turn on the stove to medium-high heat. Once the water reaches a boil let the vegetables cook until the carrots are easy to pierce with a fork.
In a small bowl, put in your corn starch and 3 tbsp of water. Gently whisk together with a fork to make a slurry. Set it aside for now and pour the milk into the pot. Stir it thoroughly before adding the corn starch slurry. Continue to stir to make sure that everything is well combined.
For the seasoning start by adding the salt, ground pepper, and minced garlic. I prefer the jars of pre-minced garlic because it makes cooking easier on days I’m not feeling well or I’m in a rush to put food in my body. Stir the seasoning until it’s evenly combined with the rest of the soup. After tasting the soup, you can adjust the seasoning to your preference. Turn the stove down to medium heat and continue cooking until the carrots are soft, stirring once in a while to prevent the vegetable from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Once done, take the soup off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes before grabbing a serving.
This recipe is a base to experiment with or adapt to what you have. Feel free to substitute or add other vegetables to it. Don’t have carrots? Throw in a potato. Don’t have celery, but you have frozen spinach? Into the pot the spinach goes. This recipe is meant to be kind, so you don’t have to go shopping in the middle of a study crunch. Or it’s also great if you just need something warm to help with the sniffles.
I wish everyone better luck than I have had for the beginning of the semester with this cozy recipe.