Easy miso soup
If you’re out of menu ideas this week, try this fast and nutritious miso vegetable soup. It takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and here’s what you’ll need:
Half onion
1-2 garlic cloves
2 cups of mushrooms (any kind will work)
2 cups of kale or spinach
1 cup of celery
Vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and pepper
Olive or coconut oil
Miso paste (we used white)
Firm tofu* optional
Chop all the vegetables.
In a pot add about 1 tbsp of olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic.
After they turn a bit clear, mix in the mushrooms and celery. Cook until tender.
Add the broth of your choice, if you don’t have broth, you may add water and powder spices. Flavour with salt & pepper, remember miso is a bit salty, so make sure you add a little at a time.
Stir while adding about 2 tbsp of miso paste and the greens. Add firm tofu squares if desired.
Let it sit low for about 10-15 minutes and enjoy!
This quick soup is full of nutrients and a great way to incorporate fermented foods to your diet since miso paste is made from fermented soybeans.
The soybeans are mixed with salt and koji, a mold used in Japan’s cuisine responsible for sake and soy sauce among other things, and which gives the special savory flavour to miso. There are different varieties of miso depending on the fermentation time, that can go from a couple months to years, the longer it ages, the darker and tastier it gets.
Since it’s a fermented seasoning, it’s also great for your microbiome! It contains probiotics, a healthy bacteria that helps boost your immune system and promote a healthy and happy gut!
For this recipe, we used white miso, the mildest and lightest in color. You may also find red miso, which has a more salty and stronger flavour or try the mixed version, created with both white and red getting a bolder taste. Still, if you’re new to cooking with it, we recommend trying the white one first.