Creamy Buckwheat & Baby Bella Mushroom Soup

With these almost biblical rains this winter all I want to do is make soup… or sleep!, or go to NYC to visit my niece… but you can’t always do the latter two, so when I saw this gorgeous recipe, and also because mushrooms are the zeitgeist lately, I dedicated myself to it, making it every which way, until I’ve gathered a good bit of subjective research on the best grain, the best way to layer the ingredients, and how to get the best flavour, even with a store-bought veg broth at its base.

So I hope you will allow me to depart from Ayurveda for a moment and share with you this recipe for a Creamy Baby Bella Soup, which I like with buckwheat, but which is even better with Pearl Couscous, if your baby belly allows.

Mine doesn’t. I’ve been avoiding gluten and dairy for years now, but have been omitting them entirely for 3 months and it’s made a great difference to my health. So I knew this recipe would need a lot of adaptations to be digestible for me.

I was game. After all remember, it’s been a bibilical downpour, and what’s one to do but make soup?!

First, I made the recipe as instructed, with pearl couscous, because you have to to know what the recipe means to be before you can adapt it. I only had the tiniest bite to taste, and then shared it with non-GF friends, who loved it. You can see in the photo above the couscous is lovely and chewy, and it sops up the rich broth beautifully. (Those white blobs are yogurt, recommended for serving in the original recipe.)

I then tried it with black rice, which was bland, and then with cauliflower rice but the caulflower doesn’t absorb the liquid as a grain would, nor add any flavor or texture, so it was just sort of mushroom soup, in a not very interesting way.

Finally I tried buckwheat groats, and it was magic!

Only, the first time I followed the cooking time in the original recipe not remembering that buckwheat cooks up much faster than couscous, so it came out more like a risotto, which is not great, as overcooked buckwheat groats just break down into mush.

But the second time I made it with the buckwheat, and got the cooking time right, it was a thing of beauty. Chewy groats, meaty mushrooms, a richly seasoned broth enhanced by Worcestershire sauce – what a throwback – and finished with a drizzle of aged balsamic – it is exactly what a rainy day calls for.

So, why is it a departure from Ayurveda?

Mushrooms
Mushrooms are considered tamasic in Ayurveda meaning they make your consciousness sleepy. But they can help with insomnia, and are said to ground and calm your nervous system. They absorb the toxins of their environment, possibly the primary reason they were considered tamasic by early Ayurvedic sages. They are good for cleaning toxic waste sites, but you don’t want to eat that – so source organic!

Garlic
Many Ayurveda experts omit garlic altogether as too rajasic-tamasic. It is said to lower one’s consciousness, making one too vulnerable to negative influences. However, over on the Easy Ayurveda website, a well-curated site devoted to Sage Charak, Dr JV Hebbar writes that garlic is commonly used in Ayurveda, and my mentor teacher loves the traditional Garlic Milk Remedy for certain Vata conditions. So it is debatable. Yoga, Ashrams, of course No. But for immune strength, garlic is potent. It’s your choice. in any case if using, it should always be cooked.

A few recipe headnotes

Mushrooms: The mushrooms come out meaty, which I loved. But if you don’t, add 5-10 minutes of sautéing, to cook them down before adding the broth. Cooking the whole soup longer once everything is added will break down the buckwheat into more of a mush, so I don’t recommend that.

Grain: I made this a number of times to see which grain would be best. I tried black rice – kind of boring, Cauliflower rice – didn’t absorb the liquid so the soup ended up too wet, and finally buckwheat groats. By all means use pearl couscous if you do not need it to be gluten-free. It is still the best, I think, for flavor and texture. But the buckwheat is a good alternative if you need to be gluten free. Follow cooking times listed on the grain’s package if you do change it up. Buckwheat cooks faster than couscous.

Wine: Each time I also tried a different wine – first white, then red, then port. The port gave the best results. Of course you can use what you have on hand. The alcohol in the wine gets cooked off, but leaves a sweet-sour richness the broth needs.

Cream: The orginal recipe also calls for half & half, but I found the oat milk works great. Better even! Plus, returning to Ayurveda for a moment, it is a much healthier food combination.

Sour: In the end, the soup needed a little something, so I stirred in 1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar, and then drizzled a little more over the bowls once served. You could also give it a good squeeze of fresh lemon, and grate lemon zest over each serving.

Serving: It is recommended to serve this with Crusty Bread, but I found it also goes well with GF Super Seed Crackers. It is so hearty, though, it really doesn’t need anything more.

Creamy Buckwheat & Baby Bella Mushroom Soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
2 tbsp ghee
1 large shallot, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp Italian seasoning (a blend of oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup white wine, red wine or port
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 cups veg broth
1 tsp pink or sea salt + a few good cracks black pepper
1 cup buckwheat groats (Mine are from Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup oat milk
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar, plus more for serving
Fresh thyme for serving
Yogurt dollop for serving, optional

Instructions
Cook Vegetables: Melt ghee in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the shallot and allow to sweat, reducing heat to low if needed to avoid browning. Once shallots are translucent, stir in the garlic. Sauté a minute or two, then add the mushrooms. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until aromatic.

Add Seasoning, Broth, and Couscous: Add the herbs and sauté for one minute. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and the wine or port. Give this another minute, then turn up the heat and pour in the broth. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust. Bring to a boil, pour in the groats, stir. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the oat milk.

Finish & Plate: Check groats for doneness. They should be soft and chewy. Add a few more minutes if needed, but be careful not to overcook or the groats become mush. Once done, remove pot from heat and swirl in the balsamic. Serve with an additional light drizzle of balsamic, and a sprig of thyme.