Welcome spring or early fall with this Greek-inspired soup, rich with leeks, mushrooms and herbs in a lemon-flavored broth. If you’d like to make this more of a main dish soup, add some chickpeas or white beans, as the variation suggests. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky.
Lemony Leek and Mushroom Soup
Welcome spring or early fall with this Greek-inspired soup, rich with leeks, mushrooms and herbs in a lemon-flavored broth.
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Servings: 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large leeks white and lightest green parts only, chopped and well rinsed
- 32- ounce carton vegetable broth
- 2 medium turnips peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound very ripe juicy tomatoes, diced, or one 14- to 16-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 8 to 10 ounces baby bella cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- 2 to 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms stemmed and sliced
- Juice of 1/2 lemon or more to taste
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 or 3 big handfuls of coarsely chopped spinach or baby spinach leaves
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
Instructions
- Heat the oil plus about 1/4 cup water in a large soup pot. Add the leeks and sauté over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they begin to go limp, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Add the broth, turnips, bay leaves, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Bring to a gentle boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add a cup of water and return to a simmer. Simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until all the vegetables are tender.
- Season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Remove from the heat. Allow the soup to stand for an hour or two, or even refrigerate overnight, if time allows.
- Before serving, heat through as needed. Stir in the spinach, parsley, and dill. If the vegetables seem crowded, adjust the consistency with more water, then adjust the seasonings and lemon juice. Serve hot.
Variation: To make the soup a bit more substantial, add a 15-to 16-ounce can (or about 1 1/2 cups cooked) chickpeas or white beans.
Nutrition information
Per serving: Calories: 111; Total fat: 2g; Protein: 2g; Carbs: 18g; Sodium: 53mg
- Explore VegKitchen’s selection of Soulful Soups.
- Here are more recipes for light and lively spring soups.
1 Comment
Marie
March 3, 2012 at 2:35 pmOh this is exactly what I needed on this dreary southwest Washington morning! Lemons!Leeks! Parsnips! I have these very ingredients and I was at a loss as to what to do with them. I grew the lemons myself on a little tree in a big pot, inside in the winter and out on the deck in the summer. The parsnips and leeks came out of my ‘winter garden’. I cannot face one more bowl of potato leek soup. I’ll start this immediately so it can mellow on the back of the stove a while. I think I’ll serve it with croissants!