Mushroom and bell pepper soup

I came across the recipe for this soup on the Vegetarian Society website and was attracted by what seemed to me like rather an odd selection of ingredients - red bell pepper, chunky peanut butter, coconut milk and mushrooms, not forgetting rice. Amazingly, no fresh herbs were required. I didnt have the spring onions called for, so I used shallots instead. And since I didnt have button mushrooms at that point, I used a mixture of chestnut and large white mushrooms.



I wasnt sure how the ingredients would work together, but decided to try it anyway. And what a pleasant surprise I got, because the soup was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! Hearty, filling, flavourful and very tasty - despite not having any chillies in it (I like chillies in most things). It was a definite hit with me, and a HUGE hit with Pete. Not only that, it was pretty easy to make, too... maybe just a wee bit of preparation, but otherwise really easy. A definite keeper, this recipe.

I cant wait to try it with different mushrooms and different coloured bell peppers, and see if the taste differs!

Recipe for: Mushroom and bell pepper soup



Ingredients:

1 cup boiling water
3 tbsp fresh grated coconut
2 cups mushrooms (chestnut and white), sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
4 shallots, chopped
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1/3 cup long grain rice, uncooked
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 red bell pepper, chopped
salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix together the mushrooms, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Set aside.

2. Pour one cup boiling over the grated coconut and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Squeeze the coconut to extract the milk, strain and reserve the liquid.

3. In a large pan, add the shallots, coconut milk, vegetable stock, lemon juice, sugar, rice, peanut butter and red pepper. Stir well.

4. Bring to the boil, stirring to make sure the peanut butter melts, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add the mushrooms and simmer for a further 5 minutes, until the rice is tender. Add salt to taste, if necessary. (The soup can be had as is, or if you prefer, you can blend some of it to create a better texture.)



6. Remove about half of the soup, let it cool, then blend to a puree. Add it back to the remaining soup.

Serve hot with fresh baked, buttered baguette slices.