It’s a drizzly, wet winter’s day here in Maine. A late December freezing rain instead of snow. It’s an unusually balmy day—hence the rain—but a miserable shade of grey outside. I don’t often say this, I have a special fondness for grey-blue ocean views, but today is too wet to play. Too icy to do much outdoors, we are confined inside. It’s the kind of day where you tackle an indoor project like organizing the storage room. It’s definitely soup weather!

This wild rice, mushroom, and sweet potato soup is perfect for a wet day like today and is one of our winter favorites. It’s soul-warming, hearty, and delicious. A good crusty sourdough bread for dipping is a must. With beans and wild rice, this soup is full of protein, but I love the vegetables the most, especially the mushrooms. Mushrooms add the perfect texture to the soup, a little chewy, in contrast to the well-cooked veggies and beans. Plus, they add the hint of umami savoriness the soup needs, and my body craves. A good soup must be loaded with veggies; it’s this slow cooking and combining of flavors that makes a soup broth so utterly slurpable. Yum!

Maitake Mushrooms

Maitake mushrooms go by many names: hen of the woods and sheep’s head. But I like maitake the best, it means dancing mushroom—how lovely a name is that? Maitake mushrooms are my favorite choice in this soup because of their earthy flavor. Oyster mushrooms are also great. Mushrooms not only taste great, but they have so many health benefits. So the more the better, toss them in the pot!

What is Wild Rice?

This is wild. Did you know that wild ,rice isn’t even rice at all? It’s actually a cereal grain, native to North America and enjoyed by indigenous people of the Great Lakes region for thousands of years. The Chippewas called it manomin, meaning “good berry” and it was a staple of their traditional diet, according to Moose Lake Wild Rice. Manomin is an aquatic grass that grows on the edges of lakes.

Wild rice is a great healthy food to eat. It’s gluten-free, high in protein, fiber, manganese, alpha lipoic acid, and vitamin B6. WebMD states that “Manganese is an antioxidant and plays a role in keeping the mitochondria in your cells healthy. Manganese has also been shown to play a role in maintaining a healthy metabolism.” Delicious and nutritious! Just what the body needs on a cold, snowy winter’s day.

Boat Load of Soup

This is not a small pot of soup, this recipe makes a boat load of soup. I have four big hearty eaters at my house; we can put the food away. Plus, we love to eat it as leftovers for lunch the next day. I am a huge fan of making large batches of delicious food that lasts for a couple of meals,fewer so I can have a break from cooking. Yes, we all need a break from the kitchen every now and then! If you are making this for less than 4 people, decrease the quantity of the ingredients.

How to Make Wild Rice, Mushroom & Sweet Potato Soup

Making this soup is easy peasy. Active prepping time is minimal; you just need to plan for time to let it simmer on the stove. To begin making the soup, add the olive oil, onions, and garlic to a soup pot. Turn the heat to medium-high once the pan has heated up. Cook for about 8 minutes until the onion begins to caramelize. Stir frequently to avoid burning.

Next, add the water to the soup pot. Then blend the onions, garlic, and water together using an emulsion blender (stick blender) to make the stock base. This step is entirely optional if you don’t mind onion chunks in your soup. My kids, however, love the flavor of onions but hate the texture, so I blend. I am not skipping onions in my soup!

Once your stock base is ready, add all the other ingredients to the soup pot: sweet potato, celery, carrots, mushrooms, Spike seasoning, thyme, bay leaf, vegetable stock, wild rice, and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to your liking, then bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer on low for 40 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Don’t forget the crusty bread for dipping. Homemade sourdough is my favorite. Yum!

Print