Mushroom Millet Soup with Cheezy Garlic Bread

Imagine this scene:

Last night, Eric and I got dressed up (me as the Queen of Hearts, him as the Scream character) and we stuffed 40 treat bags for the trick or treaters. They were bursting with candy and small toys like leap frogs and mini games.

Last year we got around 20 kids, so we doubled the quantity in case there was an influx of kids. We did it up!

Halloween music was pumping through the upstairs window and our black light was flashing. A mild headache ensued.

My poufy sleeves really started to itch my arms, but I persisted on and had another sip of my spiked cider. Eric said he couldn’t breathe through his mask, removing it every once and a while to gasp for air. No biggie.

Then we waited.

And you know what? Not one kid came to our door!!!

What has the world come to these days? Are there no kids trick or treating anymore? It was like a ghost town out there.

Needless to say, Eric’s coworkers will be overjoyed when they see all the treat bags he’s brought them today. I don’t think anyone is getting much work done today, unless buzzing around the office on a sugar high and playing leap frog counts.

Luckily, we had this soup to comfort us last night. The Queen of Hearts and Scream characters sat at the table and enjoyed a delicious bowl of soup and crispy garlic bread. Sometimes that’s all you need!

I’ve made this soup twice in one week and the second time I doubled the recipe after deeming the first version produced too little soup (I posted the doubled recipe below). If you’re a mushroom fan, you will go crazy for this “meaty” and ultra hearty soup. It honestly makes me drool to look at these pictures because I love it so much. Normal, right?

Sauté some garlic and onion for about 5 minutes. [Don’t all amazing recipes start this way?] Then add in your sliced mushrooms and cook it down for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook some millet in a pot. Quinoa would also work nicely too.

Add your broth & seasonings and simmer for about 5 more minutes.

At this point, I scooped half of my soup into the blender and processed it until lightly smooth. Then I poured this mixture back into the pot with the remaining soup. I loved this method because it thickens up the soup very nicely, but still left big mushroom pieces to bite into! Of course, if you have a hand held immersion blender that would work even better (a food processor would work too), but be sure to leave it chunky for the best texture.

Now, stir in the cooked millet. This thickens it up nicely too.

And you’re done!

Feel free to spoon into mason jars for portable work lunches.

I also made some Cheezy garlic bread based off a recipe in Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.

To make:

• Slice a baguette in half
• Peel a garlic clove and cut it in half and rub the garlic all over the bread. This helps infuse the garlic flavour into the bread without it being overpowering. You can also use garlic powder or garlic salt.
• Spread on some Earth Balance or other non-dairy spread.
• Followed by a sprinkle of nutritional yeast (for the cheezy flavour) and kosher salt
• Bake at 350F for about 14-15 minutes until crispy and golden. Slice & serve warm!

This was amazing!

I don’t even want to tell you how many pieces I had. I think I ploughed through a quarter of the baguette! Why are baguettes so insanely good?

By the way, my tests came back normal so gluten is here to stay. I’ll be talking about this more in a future post though.

Mushroom Millet Soup with Cheezy Garlic Bread

Yield
7 1/2 cups

Prep time
20 minutes

Cook time
30 minutes

Total time
50 minutes

Hearty, “meaty”, and filling, pair this with homemade garlic bread and you’ve got a healthy Fall meal that will make you forget all about summer.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked millet (or quinoa for complete protein)
• 2 pounds fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 4 cups chopped sweet onion
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 7.5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (if using full-sodium reduce added salt below)
• Salt & pepper, to taste (I used about 1.5 tsp kosher salt)
• 2 tbsp vegan + GF Wizard’s Worchester sauce (or equivalent)
• To garnish: toasted walnuts, fresh herbs, etc

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Prepare your millet (I used these directions) and fluff with a fork and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium-low heat, add a bit of oil (~1 tsp) along with the chopped onion and minced garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes until transparent, stirring frequently. Add sliced mushrooms and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until most of the water cooks off.
4. Stir in broth, along with seasonings (salt, pepper, Worchester sauce). Add only about half of the salt to begin, adding the rest to taste right before serving. Simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Scoop half of the mixture into a blender and blend until almost smooth (but still a bit chunky). Add back into the pot. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender, but be sure to leave it nice and chunky.
6. Stir in cooked millet. Season to taste and serve with a garnish of toasted walnuts, garlic bread, fresh parsley, or anything that you like!

Late last night, we headed out for our evening walk. A nice older lady who lives down the street had made a cute Halloween display for the kids at the end of her driveway. There was a sign taped to a haystack that read “Please help yourself to the candy!”, but no candy to be found.

We walked down the road a bit and there was a RACCOON with her bowl of candy happily munching away on a Snickers bar in front of her yard.

At least, someone’s enjoying Halloween!