Mushroom Soup

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS
1 lb fresh portobello or crimini mushrooms, finely diced
1 med-lrg onion
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon salt or to taste
4 cups water, separated

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Finely chop mushrooms and onions and cook in large pan, covered, over low heat until onions are cooked.
2. While the mushrooms and onions are cooking, blend cashews, arrowroot powder or cornstarch, onion powder, salt and two cups water until a small amount rubbed between your finger and thumb is smooth and not gritty. This may take as long as five minutes. If you don’t have a very powerful blender, you may want to start out with a little less water until the cashews are blended smooth, adding the rest of the water at the end.
3. Pour blended cashew mixture over the sauteed mushroom mixture, adding the remaining water a little at a time, stirring constantly until thickened.
4. At this point, you have mushroom soup concentrate, and you can thin with the remaining water to desired consistency.

RECIPE NOTES
This mushroom soup, made like the recipe, is to be eaten as soup. If you don’t add any of the extra water, you can freeze in 1⅔ cup measures to equal a ‘can’ of mushroom soup for recipes. You can add just enough water to make a gravy consistency to use over patties, potatoes, toast, etc. When made to use as gravy, I like to buy sliced mushrooms, leave them sliced and slice the onions also.