Yesterday my baby boy turned 17, which still has me in denial. As I sat at looked at his baby pictures, I just couldn’t figure out how the time went by so quickly. He was just this tiny little sweet baby and now he is 6’3″ and practically a man. I was feeling a little nostalgic and the monsoon we were having outside really had me in a funk and needing some comfort food. To me, comfort food can be different depending on what kind of mood I am in, but generally, it is soup of some kind. I got to digging around in the fridge and found some baby portobello mushrooms. I had forgotten that I purchased them and had I not used them quickly, I would have had fungus on my fungus.

Right away I thought about mushroom soup. I hadn’t attempted to make a soup like this before, because, well, no one in my house besides my mama and I even like mushrooms. I knew I had to use these up before they went bad, so I gathered up a few, simple ingredients and went to work. It turned out to be so delicious and tasted like something that took a long time to prepare. This really couldn’t be any easier to make and is great alone, or could be served before a meal.

*This recipe is gluten free as long as you use a GF broth.

**This recipe can be vegetarian if you use a vegetable broth in place of the beef.

Baby Bella Mushroom Soup

• 16 ounces baby bella mushrooms, rinsed and chopped
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 4-6 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley (use fresh if you have it)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1-2 tablespoons real butter or olive oil
• pepper and salt, to taste

Chop up all your mushrooms and your onion. I chopped the onion up pretty fine, because I didn’t want a bunch of large pieces in the soup, you feel free to do whatever you prefer. In a large skillet, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter and your chopped onion. Let the onion cook up for about 2-3 minutes, then add your other tablespoon of butter, all of the chopped mushrooms, and the minced garlic. Let all of this cook for about 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are dark and soft. Sprinkle in the dried parsley and pepper, be cautious with the salt until you know how salty your broth will be.

Once these are all cooked up, place them in a sauce pot and add in your broth and the bay leaves. I started with 4 cups of broth (5 tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon beef and 4 cups water), but then added in about 2 more cups of water, which made the consistency and taste perfect. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

That’s it, super easy. I had it warmed up for lunch today and it was even better. Enjoy!