Solyanka

There is no soy in solyanka. Well, actually, there was in mine, but only by a specific twist of circumstance.

I had been wondering about olives in soup and whether that would be gross or awesome. This was surprisingly great! It made a TON of soup, however, and it's not something you want to eat meal after meal. I'd cut this recipe in half next time.

As far as I can tell from the internets, solyanka is kind of a "kitchen sink" type stew, with the defining feature being a sourness imparted by something pickled. I used mushrooms instead of meat, but I also threw in some roasted tofu and tempeh I had on hand as well. I followed this recipe, except I halved the onions (still a lot of onion!), cut back on salt, and added a lot of pepper.



Vegan Mushroom Solyanka 
(recipe from Vegan Sandra)

Ingredients
3 Tbsp oil
4 medium onions (note I used only 2; also I found them to be too stringy sliced; I would chop them next time)
2 ½ cups / 200 g chopped white mushrooms or other edible mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 heaping tsp paprika powder (or I used aleppo pepper, not too different)
6 cups / 1L + 400 ml boiling water
3 medium potatoes
3 large pickles
3 Tbsp black olives (pitted)
3 Tbsp green olives (pitted)
5 Tbsp tomato paste
1 slice of lemon, cut into four
2 - 2 ¼ tsp salt (I only used 1 tsp--add carefully to taste)
(fresh parsley and/or spring onions for serving)
+Black pepper, other seasoning to taste

Instructions (from Vegan Sandra)
Heat up a thick-bottomed pot. Add oil, sliced onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add chopped white mushrooms, chopped garlic, bay leaves, ground black pepper and paprika powder. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Add sliced potatoes and boil another 5 minutes. Add chopped pickles, olives, tomato paste, lemon pieces and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Serve with chopped fresh parsley and/or spring onions and sunflower sour cream, if you like.