Vegetarian Mushroom Hot and Sour Soup

'Tis the season for soup!  As the weather gets colder, my desire for soup increases.  Soup is filling, nutritious and delicious.  My husband has always been a fan of hot and sour soup,  but me, not so much.  We had a ton of mushrooms from the farmers market that needed to be cooked, so I thought they would make a good alternative to seaweed that is in most hot and sour soups.  This soup does have a bit of a kick (hints the HOT portion of the soup title), but for not being a huge fan of hot and sour soup, I must say, it was pretty darn good.  Enjoy!

Vegetarian Mushroom Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
5 green onions, sliced and divided into green and white pieces
2 cups baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup shitaki mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp Sriracha
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
6 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat coconut oil over medium heat.  Add yellow onion and white portion of green onion.  Sauté for 5 minutes, until tender.  Add mushrooms and continue to sauté for 5 minutes, until mushrooms have reduced in size.  Add ginger, garlic and sriracha, sauté for 1 minute, until fragrant.  Add soy sauce and vinegar slowly, then add broth.  Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, making a slurry.  Add the slurry to the soup and continue simmering for 10 minutes, until soup begins to thicken.  Remove the soup from the heat and slowly stir in the beaten egg.  The egg will form strings and cook immediately.  Add salt and pepper if needed and top with the green portion of the green onion.

Cauliflower Orange "Chicken"....Without the Chicken

Every time I am at the mall and I pass Panda Express, I always die over the smell of their infamous Orange Chicken.  That used to be a regular choice for my cheat meals when I wasn't a vegetarian and I actually miss it sometimes!  What I don't miss is all the crud they put in the chicken that would always make my stomach so upset after eating it.  I know that cauliflower is used as a substitute for a lot of meat in vegetarian dishes and I thought, why couldn't in replace chicken in an orange chicken dish.  From all my years in the kitchen and my many experimentations, I can almost nail down all the non-artificial ingredients in an orange chicken recipe.  I think I hit the nail on the head with this one.  Even my 5 year old was asking for more :)  Enjoy!

Cauliflower Orange "Chicken"

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
brown rice for serving

In a large pot, add chopped cauliflower.  Fill the bottom of the pot with 1 inch of water.  Cover and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender.  Drain excess water.

While the cauliflower is cooking, in a large pan, combine orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, white vinegar, garlic and ginger.  Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix corn starch and water.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of corn starch mixture to the pan with the orange sauce mixture.  Mix and allow to simmer and thicken for 1 minute.

Gently toss drained cauliflower and green onions in the pan with the orange sauce.  Allow to cook for 1 minute to make sure cauliflower is evenly coated in orange sauce.  Serve over brown rice with additional green onions if desired.