~ Crimson Oil-Free Mushroom Soup (with Collagen)

Taken from:
Tiffany's! 


Ingredients (serves 1-2):
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1/4 red capsicum, cut into chunks
150 g oyster mushrooms
2 tbsp pasta sauce
1 tbsp collagen powder
1 tsp chopped green onions/scallions

Directions: 
1) Place tomato and carrot chunks into a pot and add sufficient water to cover them. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 min, or till carrots are soft.
2) Add in red capsicum and mushroom, to cook for 5 min.
3) Stir in pasta sauce, collagen powder and green onions, and simmer till bubbly. 
4) Season with salt and pepper if desired, and serve.


Remarks: 
Ahh I lost the pictures!!!


Oh dear, this soup gave my olfactory system the jimjams when the pungency of the oyster mushroom clashed head-on with the sharp smell of the red capsicum. Eww what a horrendous malodorous smell! The pasta sauce was truly a saviour, melding the two adversaries together, and the soup turned out pretty awesome! For my palate, that is. =) 

The mushrooms lent an interesting chewiness, the carrots a sweet goodness, the capsicums a stimulatory kick, the tomatoes a tangy zing, the pasta sauce an Italian flavour and the green onions an Asian slant. An excellent medley of ingredients for a healthy crimson soup!

For those who like a faster way of doing things, dump all the veggies into the pot and boil away! The reason for having step 2 is to prevent the red capsicum and mushroom from becoming too mushy to add texture, and also to limit the amount of water (based on volume) added in step 1. 

Regarding the addition of collagen powder, the collagen powder advocates will either 1) nod their heads in approval or 2) gawk in horror, depending on how they see it. Boosting the soup with collagen gets a pat on the back, but stirring vitamin C-fortified gelatin into hot steaming soup turns the table around. Oh well, that's why adding the collagen powder is optional (if you happen to have it).