Our diet is almost entirely plant based these days, since we're still fasting. Another day of going through old recipes I haven’t made for a while in an effort to enrich our dishes in flavour. It is also a time I don’t purchase so many veggies, as we have many in our garden and I'm so grateful for that. I couldn’t imagine going into spring with another basket filled with cabbage, broccoli, and apples. So this is the time for spinach, green and red salads, rocket, fresh onions, beetroot, asparagus… This year we planted my favorite artichokes for the first time and last week we gathered our first beautiful, tender artichoke flowers. “ Paradise!”

I needed a break from all these greens, so I looked for something different and remembered an old recipe that is perfect for this time of Lent and for Easter. It’s a soup that resembles the traditional Greek “mageiritsa” soup that we eat on Easter Eve. “Magiritsa” is this special soup made from lamb or goat offal (I am sure my vegan friends already feel sick) and cooked with herbs (mint, dill, parsley), rice and plenty of lemon juice. This meat soup is specially made for Easter Eve dinner, right after Lent is finished.

Personally, I adore “magiritsa” and have always been wondering why we eat it only once a year, for Easter. I guess it's because there is a surplus of entrails, since it’s a ritual for Easter Sunday to have roasted meat of goat or lamb at the Easter table. Another reason why it's done once a year is its meticulous cleaning that is so time consuming. This soup can be adored or hated. You either have two plates or none!! It has a lot of fanatic friends but enemies as well.

An alternative way to make this soup much healthier is to use mushrooms instead of meat. I make this version quite often, especially in winter. Before I made it for the first time, I couldn’t imagine how similar the taste is to the original “magiritsa” made with meat.

So, I decided to leave my greens aside for a while and bought some fresh mushrooms. Usually, I combine different kinds of mushrooms which I think make the soup more tasteful. I certainly use Pleurotus and Portobello and whatever other fresh mushrooms I can find.

Today I'm thinking of adding some spinach to my vegetarian “magiritsa” to make it even healthier. This is what I really adore about cooking - how creative and inspiring it can be!! You can make endless combinations and play with so many ingredients.

The final result is delicious. The soup is just perfect!! Try it and it will be on your table all the seasons, for sure!