Mushroom Mish Mosh Soup

So much news, I don't even know where to start! Thank you for your patience as I spent the week relaxing and rejuvenating at Canyon Ranch. I soaked up every minute of the trip, and it was fantastic. I will share some highlights over the next week along with some great new recipes. 

These two pictures are my two of my favorite spots at the ranch - on a cozy couch in front of the fire where I did some quality reading (and napping) and the indoor track above the spa where I walked about 20 miles over the course of the week. It was very warm up on the track, so I almost always had it to myself which allowed for some good meditation, singing, and random gymnastics moves as I circled the track over 250 times. 

When I got home this afternoon, I decided it was time to go for a walk to get inspired for a new soup recipe. Instead of brainstorming soups I just walked in circles around my neighborhood while I talked to Mal. I don't think I convinced her to meet with a psychic, energy healer, and acupuncturist, but I think she at least appreciated the stories! When I got to the store, I saw that they had an amazing variety of mushrooms (button, portobello, oyster, crimini, and shitake). I bought all of them and decided on a mushroom soup. I added the head of cabbage and celery to bulk it up a bit, but I would definitely try it again omitting those two ingredients so the mushroom flavor is stronger. The most exciting part of this recipe was when I had to peel the garlic. One of my many wonderful Christmas gifts from Ryan was this silicone garlic peeler. If you haven't tried one, it really works like magic. You put a clove in the silicone sleeve, press down on it, roll it back and forth for a second or two, and then it just falls out of the sleeve fully peeled! A wonderful invention worth trying out...

Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 2 sweet onions, chopped
- 1 large leek, chopped (whites & greens)

- 1 shallot, chopped- 1 head garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1 bunch of celery, chopped
- 1 small head cabbage, chopped

- 1 lb. white button mushrooms, chopped

- 10 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, chopped

- 6 oz. crimini mushrooms, chopped

- 6 oz. oyster mushrooms, chopped

- 6 oz. shitake mushrooms, chopped- 1 bunch of fresh organic herbs (I used thyme, rosemary, and sage)
- 2 quarts of organic vegetable stock
- pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. You know what to do... chop it all (preferably while watching the season premiere of the Bachelor on DVR like I did...)
2. Heat olive oil over medium heat
3. Add onions, leek, shallot, and garlic and saute for about 10 minutes until soft
4. Add all other veggies and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes
5. Add herbs and broth and bring to a boil
6. Cover pot, turn heat to low, and cook for 45 minutes until everything is soft
7. Remove herbs from pot and then puree soup with your immersion blender