Alright. I’ve totally been holding out on you guys. This recipe — this one right here before your very eyes — just might be my favorite dish of the year. Or century. Or millennium. You think I’m being dramatic with all these superlatives, but I’m not kidding: this was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I’ve been holding out because I don’t think the pictures get that point across enough! I’m sure I could take better pictures, but I’m also sure they might never look as good as this recipe tastes. Not only is this delicious, but it’s really easy, too. I made this in April and kept the various ingredients in my fridge (made and ready to be assembled for every.single.lunch) until we left for Vietnam.
By now you’re probably saying “what’s so special about this recipe?” Um, what isn’t special about this recipe? First off: turmeric broth. Obviously, you need to like turmeric. We drink copious amounts of turmeric tea (ground turmeric + honey + lemon + pepper + hot water. LIFE CHANGING), so turmeric broth wasn’t a shock. I love the flavor, and the slight punch-in-the-tongue you get every time. I stuck with the pepper and lemon combo, too, but replace the water with broth. You can use chicken or vegetable — whatever you want. Cook the turmeric with some oil, then add onions, then broth, and let it simmer together for a bit — you’re cooking out the “raw” taste in the turmeric powder. I haven’t made this with fresh turmeric, but if you can get your hands on it I suggest you try — I imagine it is even better!! I kept the amount of turmeric in the recipe here rather conservative — if you know you love it, feel free to add a bit more!
Next let’s talk about the mushrooms. I’m generally pretty “meh” about mushrooms: they’re delicious, but I won’t seek them out, and they’re often not the star of the show. Here, despite the many stars in the show, the mushrooms were ESSENTIAL! I cooked mine in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, without stirring for the first few minutes, so that one side of them is golden-brown caramelized pure deliciousness. If you’ve never had a caramelized mushroom… go get on it! NOW! Holy mushroomness! So good.
You think we’re done? WE AREN”T! Roasted cherry tomatoes. OMGOMGOMG. Does that look like GOMG to anyone else? Whoopsies. You know what I mean. I roasted my cherry tomatoes until they were crinkled and sometimes black and always hot and flavorful! Olive oil and salt help these babies reach their full potential. This is the one part of the recipe that really can’t be replicated straight from the fridge — there’s something about a fresh, hot, seed-bursting, flavorful roasted tomato that goes away when it cools. Good thing it’s easy to roast them! Throw these on in abundance!
While the black rice certainly is delicious here, but you could easily sub it for another grain — rice or otherwise. The final star of this show (for me, and I can already hear some of you screaming in despair), is the cilantro. SO MUCH CILANTRO! These pictures are totally inaccurate because had I taken a picture of what I actually ate, it might just look like a pile of green. I like cilantro that much. The more the merrier! With a squeeze of lime, I can think of nothing better than a good pile of cilantro. Yes yes and yes!
With that, I expect you all to rush out and make this ASAP! It’s ridiculously healthy (have you read about the benefits of turmeric? You should be eating it all the time!), bursting with flavors and textures, and I’m guessing this is a bit different than your usual dinner!
- 2 Tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cups small mushrooms, sliced (I used crimini)
- juice from ½ lemon
- ½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 cups cooked black/imperial rice
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- limes, for squeezing over cilantro
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground turmeric and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Whisk continuously as is bubbles, for one minute, before adding the onion. Again, cook for two minutes before adding the vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes while you finish the rest of the recipe.
- Toss the cherry tomatoes with 1 tsp olive oil, and ½ tsp salt. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes, or until wrinkled and browning. Remove when done.
- Meanwhile, heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, laying flat as much as possible, and do not stir for at least 3 minutes. Check after three minutes to see if the bottoms are golden-brown — if not, cook until they are. If they are, turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another five minutes. Remove from heat when done.
- When the broth has simmered for 10 minutes, remove from heat and add the lemon juice and black pepper. Taste, and add salt if needed (will depend on your broth).
- To assemble, place a large scoop of black rice in a bowl, ladle a generous serving of broth over, and then add mushrooms, tomatoes, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
Reading your post I’m sold! I love all of the ingredients but have never had a turmeric broth or tea so it will be an experience.
Oh good — glad to know I’m convincing!! I’m curious to hear how you end up liking it — it’s certainly a different flavor than I was used to at first, but acquiring a taste for it was QUICK! Now I’m addicted!
Hey Mary, Nikki here from Australia. It was great to meet you and Derek at Haraharalaya. Your blog is wonderful and this turmeric soup will be made in the next few days for sure!!
So you know I’ve had some issues with ads popping up and reloading multiple times when trying to scroll down your home page.
Look forward to keeping track of your adventures and food suggestions,
Nikki
Hi Nikki — So glad to hear from you! We loved meeting you, too! Thanks for letting me know about the ads… I try not to allow any pop-ups so I’ll take a look into that {sorry for the inconvenience!}.
Enjoy the turmeric soup — hopefully you’re still feeling a bit of that vacation!
Mary