Mushroom Gravy

There are a lot of fancy mushroom gravy recipes out there with many ingredients and sometimes hours of cooking time. This recipe is a for a basic mushroom gravy with only four ingredients and minimal prep and cooking time. Makes about 1 to 1.5 cups, enough for two to three people.



Ingredients:

1 8oz package of white button mushroom (similar types of mushrooms should work too, like portabella or cremini)
1 cup water
1 cube Edward & Sons organic "not-beef" bouillon *
1 TBSP non-gmo or organic corn starch **

Wash the mushrooms, remove the stems, and cut them into pieces roughly the size of a nickel or quarter and 0.25" thick. In a saucepan, heat the water over high and add the bouillon cube, stirring to dissolve. When it boils, add the mushrooms, stir, cover with a tight fitting lid, and reduce the heat to medium or so. Allow the mushrooms to cook until they are quite tender, at least 15 minutes but probably longer (just check them periodically). Once they mushrooms are done, removed them from the pan and set aside. Return the pan to medium and a small whisk to stir in the corn starch. Keep whisking gently over medium heat until the liquid becomes somewhat translucent and thickens. Stir in the mushrooms, remove from heat, serve hot and enjoy!

* This makes the gravy salty so do not use this and serve with food that is already salty. If you want to use this gravy with salty food or are watching your sodium intake, try using only part of the cube or use a low-sodium bouillon or broth instead.

** This amount of corn starch gives you a thin gravy. For a thicker version, just increase the corn starch a bit. Other thickeners, like tapioca starch or arrowroot, will have different results so you may need to make adjustments for those.

Split Pea Soup *

This split pea soup is gluten free and soy free (so long as the ingredients you choose do not contain either).

1 lb bag dry green split peas
½ gallon water plus more as needed
3 vegan “chicken” or vegetable bouillon cubes (I use Edward & Sons)
2/3 cup potato flakes (I used Edward & Sons homestyle mashed potatoes)
½ tsp ground black pepper, more or less to taste
¼ tsp liquid smoke flavoring
½ cup carrots, chopped to ¼” pieces
3 large or 4 medium stalks celery, chopped to ¼” pieces

Combine ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and then cover. Cook over medium-low until the peas are soft and fall apart, stirring occasionally. When finished cooking the soup should be thick and smooth, except for the carrot and celery bits which should be quite soft. Serve hot alongside toasted crusty bread or warm cornbread. Leftover soup may need to have a little water added to it when reheated because it thickens in the refrigerator.

NOTE: If you are concerned about sodium intake be sure to use low-sodium bouillon cubes because the regular ones can be quite salty; this will alter the flavor, though, so if sodium is not an issue for you I do not recommend doing it.