Mushroom Soup-Vegan Friendly.

I found this in an old Vegetarian cook book (1,000 Vegetarian Recipes) that I had since I was a teenager. I was a vegetarian for about 7 years.....it was difficult, at the time when I first started there wasn't many products other than Morning Star that made vegetarian frozen things. You otherwise relied on cookbooks, and didn't eat out much.....not many places understood the concept of not eating meat. Now there are quite a bit of products that have decent flavors and more resturants have opened their minds of non-meat eaters. Sorry for the tangent. I will be using this soup for many casserole's especially since my hubby has a problem with dairy, it has made me happy since the flavor it's bad tasting. I didn't even notice the missing milk or half and half. :-)

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons butter (or margarine)
• 3⁄4 cup leek (chopped ( white and light green parts only)
• 4  cups white mushrooms (sliced)
• 3  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3  cups vegetable broth
• 2  tablespoons brandy
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1  pinch dried thyme
• 1⁄2 cup half-and-half (optional)

Directions

1. In a 3-quart saucepan: melt the butter or margarine over medium-high heat. Add the leeks; coook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour until absorbed.
2. Add the broth, brandy, pepper and thyme; cook, stirring constantly, until soup comes to a boil. Add the half and half, if you are using it. Stir in the flour until absorbed. VARIATION: Substitute dry sherry for the brandy.