Raw Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

Yesterday I thought I had really bad allergies, but since both my husband and son have the same symptoms today that I had yesterday I am pretty sure it is a virus. It happens. Especially after having a birthday party with lots of kids running around. I also ate some cooked vegan food this weekend. The specialty vegan cupcakes we ordered were delicious, but not gluten-free, had processed sugar and cooked oils my body is not used to. This was a bad choice on my part, so I think next time I will skip the cupcakes and stick with the strawberries instead. I focus on raw foods not to live up to someone else's standards or show how extreme I am. I do it because I feel better when I do!

So back to feeling better... my favorite sick meal has been hot and sour soup. It used to be hard enough to find a vegetarian version of this recipe, but this raw vegan version is a real treat. The mushrooms are a bit versatile. Mushrooms are a good one to cook if you feel you need to cook something, as raw mushrooms can be hard to digest. I feel that marinating them and dehydrating breaks them down in the same way, but if you do not have a dehydrator I recommend cooking them at your lowest temperature and with coconut oil instead of olive oil. If you choose to cook your mushrooms, you have a wider variety that you can choose from, but if you want to stay raw portobello are the best to use. Here is my raw version:

For the mushrooms:

1 cup portobello mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon coconut aminos
pink Himalayan salt to taste

Soup base:

2 tomatoes
1 cup sauerkraut juice
2 cups water
1/2 cup coconut aminos
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon coconut vinegar
1/2 cup red onion
3 dates, pitted
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fennel powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
 pink Himalayan salt to taste

Soup texture:

1/4 cup of red onion (additional)
1 handful cilantro
1 small handful nettles
1 small handful dulse
dash of red pepper flakes

Slice mushrooms and place in a bowl with olive oil, coconut aminos, and salt. Allow to marinate for 15 to 30 minutes. Place on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 30 minutes. Place all soup base ingredients in a blender and blend until even. Finely chop the remaining onion, cilantro, and dulse (if not in flake form). Add onion, cilantro, dulse, nettles, red pepper flakes, and mushrooms to the soup mixture. Serve at room temperature and garnish as desired.