Mushrooms + Soup = Swoon

Even though it has been in the 90s up here in NorCal for the past week, I decided to make Mushroom Soup on Wednesday night for dinner. We had a potluck at work that day for lunch, and I totally overdid it on the indulgent eating... no regrets! Alas, by dinner-time, I wasn't starving. Instead of making the planned carb & fat-laden Green Bean Carbornara for dinner (pushed to Fri night dinner), I burned a few extra calories by finely chopping up about 1-3/4 lbs of mushrooms. Thankfully, that was the hardest part of the meal! Threw them in a pot with some stock and garlic for 10 mins, blend it all up, add a little creme freche and coriander and viola - soup! Or Veloute, I guess, if you're feeling fancy. Here's my (not so different) version of the recipe from Food & Wine:

Recipe: Two-Mushroom Velouté

1 1/4 pounds cremini mushrooms (1 pound finely chopped, 1/4 pound thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
Chopped chives, for garnish

1.In a bowl, toss the chopped cremini mushrooms with the lemon juice. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken stock with the chopped cremini and shiitake mushrooms and the garlic and bring to a boil; simmer over moderately low heat until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.

2.Meanwhile, in a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Add the sliced cremini mushrooms and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes.

3.Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until very smooth (very small batches so you don't burn yourself - I did approx 4-5 batches); return to the saucepan and whisk in the crème fraîche. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add the coriander and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with the sautéed mushrooms and chives and serve.

One Serving: 137 cal, 7.5 gm fat, 3.0 gm sat fat, 10 gm carb, 0 gm fiber, 7 gm protein.