This delicious, vegan Healthy Mushroom, Orzo and Swiss Chard Soup is hearty and rich in flavor, but light on calories.
I officially entered the land of crazy this weekend. I am training for my first marathon. In fact, the marathon is less than two weeks away (cue the butterflies). There are times when this thought makes me want to close the blinds, wrap myself in a blanket and eat soup all day to comfort myself (this Healthy Mushroom & Swiss Chard Soup will do nicely, thank you very much). Thankfully for my morale, these days are overshadowed by the moments when I practically itch to lace up my running shoes and hit the road.
This past Saturday was one of those really good days. Okay, I admit that being faced with my longest run ever was a bit much to take on a Saturday morning. Luckily, my husband (a darn impressive marathoner) was there to give me the "Take it slow. Just check off the miles one-by-one" pep talk.
After a lot of mental games, a crash into the proverbial wall at mile 16 and a near-sprint up the hill at the end (I credit that burst of energy to sheer delirium), I finished at the 20.5 mile mark. Yep, I am an official citizen of the land of crazy.
The rest of the day? Oh, there was a lot of reclining, heaps of food consumed and an obscene amount of moaning and groaning over sore muscles. If I had the energy, I would have done a happy dance when I remembered that there were leftovers of this soup in the fridge. The light broth, earthy mushrooms and vitamin-packed chard nourished my body and brought some life back to my muscles.
A few days before making this soup, I stumbled upon some whole wheat orzo at my local supermarket. The texture was perfect for the soup and would work well in any dish that calls for regular orzo.
The recipe:
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat.
Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, mushrooms, pepper and sage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.
Add the vegetable broth to the onions and mushrooms. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add the orzo and cook until the orzo is almost al dente.
Add the Swiss chard, cover the saucepan and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the Swiss chard is wilted. Serve it up!
Other healthy vegetarian soups:
French Onion & Endive Soup with Pancetta
Hearty Lentil & Black Bean Soup with Smoked Paprika
Printable Recipe
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Healthy Mushroom Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons olive oil divided
- ½ large yellow onion diced
- 3 clove garlic minced
- 12 ounces crimini or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 7 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- ⅔ cups whole wheat orzo
- 4 cups chopped Swiss chard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, mushrooms, pepper and sage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.
- Add the vegetable broth to the onions and mushrooms. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Add the orzo and cook until the orzo is almost al dente.
- Add the Swiss chard, cover the saucepan and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the Swiss chard is wilted. Serve it up!
Notes
Nutrition
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Steve
First the soup. Outstanding. Thanks so much for that. I really enjoyed it. Second, your running. You are stepping into the running world exclusive club. Welcome. Hope you truly enjoy the experience. It is not easy, but very rewarding. The training is the hard part. I am running in the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon this Sunday. When fininshed I will enjoy another bowl of your soup (and a few cold beers!)