I recently perfected my cream of broccoli and mushroom soup. As there is no accounting for taste, you may not agree it’s perfect. But for my palate, it’s exactly the right blend of flavor (green and earthy), texture (a silky base with good chunks of vegetables to chew on), and caloric and nutritional calculation (despite the name, there is no cream, but some protein and plenty of fiber). The soup satisfies my hunger and supports my goal to eat healthier en route to getting into the dress I want to wear for my son’s wedding this coming August!

If you’ve read this Green Plate Special column for any length of time, you probably know that most weeks my recipes are flexible. I write them to allow cooks room to sustainably incorporate whatever ingredients they might have on hand or that they can source from local farmers in any given season.

But this recipe was developed with a bit more precision and a lot more therapeutic intention. After a year of watching the Trump administration dismantle many of the social services and public health measures I believe are necessary for a healthy food system — as well as a December holiday season that filled me up emotionally but depleted me physically — I needed some culinary arts therapy. 

I am not alone. A small but growing group of food writers, professional cooks, social scientists and mental health professionals recognize how the act of cooking can calm a person’s nerves. Cooking offers opportunities for stress management, mindfulness, patience, relationship building, problem solving, self-determination and the self-esteem one gets from being responsible for a delicious plate of food. 

Here’s how that worked in my case: Gathering vegetable scraps and chicken bones to make a rich broth gave me a sense of agency about stretching my food dollars. Every time I passed through the kitchen in the six hours the stock was simmering, I felt more grounded in my ability to nourish myself and my family.

Slowly chopping the broccoli, onions, and garlic offered a meditation on staying in the moment. My ability to chop them into neat, even pieces relieved some of the anxiety I feel about the many things in life I can’t control.

Sauteing the mushrooms, letting them cook untouched until they browned to the right level of umami, was an exercise in patience, while finding that the blended soup base in one test was more yellow than the green I sought gave me an opportunity to problem solve. I had a sense of pride when I figured out that if I steamed the broccoli florets separately before dropping them into the blender with the other base ingredients, my soup came out the right color. Even when test pots of soup were imperfect, they were certainly edible, which gave me a sense of resilience. 

In her new book “Cooking Your Way to Calm,” Michigan-based social worker and therapist Julie Ohana offers home cooks an easy-to-follow, eight-week plan that shows how the act of making breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert can lower anxiety, build confidence and help them find happiness. In the interest of full disclosure, Ohana has become a mentor of mine as I pursue my own graduate degree in social work at the University of Southern Maine. In fact, I recently received a research grant to bring her to campus in late March to speak to me and my fellow students on the theory and practice of culinary arts therapy. 

Since completing her master’s thesis 25 years ago on the therapeutic benefits of cooking, Ohana has been a pioneering voice on how to integrate culinary arts into clinical social work practice. Like other expressive arts such as painting, dance and poetry, culinary arts therapy is grounded in the concept of behavioral activation. That’s the academic term for what happens when a person engages in an activity they find personally rewarding as a way to help them break out of anxious or depressive thought patterns. 

Personally speaking, I headed to the kitchen to make a batch of broccoli and mushroom soup the morning after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and an American citizen. I was understandably agitated by news of the incident itself, physically sickened as I watched the videos taken from multiple angles, and became highly anxious as I ruminated on the societal implications of the administration’s call to disregard what I could see with my own eyes in those videos.

The act of preparing the soup, of course, did not change the facts of the ICE shooting. But it did give me an opportunity to stop my negative mental spiral, at least for a little while. Unfortunately, I foresee many more moments like these in our future. The good news is I have a copy of Ohana’s workbook to grant me a little calm in the weeks, months, years ahead. 

CHRISTINE’S PRETTY PERFECT BROCCOLI AND MUSHROOM SOUP

This soup is creamy without the cream. The precooked rice that simmers with the vegetables until it’s falls apart lends the soup that creamy texture. The blender turns all the ingredients into a silky smooth base into which you stir the sautéed mushrooms and steamed broccoli florets.  

Makes 8 cups soup

1 ounce flavorful dried mushrooms, such as porcini or shiitake 
3-4 broccoli crowns (about 1 ½ pounds)
Olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces  
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cooked rice 
Parmesan cheese rind, optional
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Place the dried mushrooms in a medium-sized bowl. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over them. Set aside.

Pull the broccoli crowns apart into individual pieces. (My kids used to refer to these as “trees,” which may help illustrate the shape you’re looking for.) Use a sharp knife to chop the tree trunks into ½-inch pieces. Use your fingers to pull the treetops into bite sized pieces and separate these into a microwavable bowl. 

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the chopped broccoli tree trunks, the onion, garlic and red chili flakes to a large pot. Place over medium heat and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the reconstituted mushrooms and their (strained) water, the chicken broth, rice and Parmesan rind (if using; it adds flavor). Simmer the soup until the broccoli pieces are soft and the rice is disintegrating, 12-15 minutes. 

As the soup base simmers, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fresh mushrooms and stir to coat them in the oil. Spread the mushrooms into an even layer around the pan. Cook untouched until one side of the mushrooms is nicely browned, 4-5 minutes. Stir and cook 1 minute more, and set aside. 

Add 3 tablespoons of water to the bowl of bite-sized broccoli treetops. Cover with either plastic wrap or a silicone topper, place in the microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes to steam the broccoli. 

Once the soup base has simmered for 12-15 minutes, use a blender to puree it. Stir in the sauteed mushrooms and steamed broccoli treetops. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve hot, breathing deeply, and calmly dipping in your spoon.