Miso Barley Soup

Miso Barley Soup

This is a really easy, and tasty soup.
This recipe comes from the You Are What You Eat cookbook, and is another great variation on miso soup.

It's hard to call this an actual "recipe", but I will!  It's super simple and uses instant miso soup packets.

I cooked up 4 for our family, and added in 1 cup of leftover soaked/rinsed/drained/cooked pearl barley.

You cook the soup according to the packaged directions, then add in the refrigerated barley, stirring until it's heated through, on simmer or off the heat.

You can't see the barley because it sinks.  I tried to get a photo, but it kept sinking!

Delicious, healthy, and an easy way to add a little something to packaged soup.

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare)

(Japanese for Bon Apetit!)



Great Life Miso Soup

Great Life Miso Soup

I have lots and lots of miso soup recipes. 

And they are all different enough that I thought I'd try each of them out over time.

This recipe comes from The Great Life and is slightly different than I've made miso soup before.  This one includes vegetables and leafy greens.

Start by soaking a strip of wakame in water.  I found this wakame and my local natural foods store.

It softens in just a couple of minutes.  Drain it and chop it into smaller pieces.

Then boil water (1 c per serving) and the wakame. 

Add in sliced root and/or round vegetable slices.  I used carrots and turnip which I had on hand to make up about 1/2 of vegetables.  Cook the vegetables about 4 minutes.

Then add in leafy greens.  I used napa cabbage that I had on hand.

Lower the heat to simmer and add the miso paste and stir for 4 minutes.

We have been using chickpea miso paste and it is virtually flavorless, so I added a bit of soy sauce to add a little more flavor.

You can garnish with scallions and serve warm.



Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.



 

どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare)

(Bon Appetit is Japanese!)





Almond Miso Dip

Almond Miso Dip

The June 2012 Vegetarian Times had an article on helping kids eat more raw vegetables, especially as snacks.  They included three healthy dips that might make crudite time more palatable for kids. 

I made the first of these dips this weekend.

Thomas and Brennan do well with raw vegetables, so I don't think they necessarily need a dip to be enticed to eat them with dinner, but a yummy dip never hurts!

I was really surprised how well they liked this dip.

Brennan declared it "the best dip he's ever had". 

So there you go.  Ringing endorsement.

Right off I have to say this version was technically "Peanut Miso Dip" because we were out of Almond Butter.  It worked really well with the peanut butter.  I think it would be great with almond or cashew butter as well.

I mixed the dip up in a small saucepan.

I heated natural apple juice, then added in miso, dissolving it well.  Then I stirred in the peanut butter, and put some in a small bowl for each of us. 

That night we had yellow peppers, carrot sticks, and daikon radish with dinner - they all worked great with this dip. 

David thought the carrots were best. 

Brennan doesn't like bell peppers, but I asked him to try the pepper with this dip, seeing if it made a difference.  It didn't.  Peppers are still on his short list of foods he won't eat, and that's OK.

And still plenty leftover for snacks and lunch the next day.



I will say that this is not a dip I'd want to eat everyday, but it apparently is a hit with kids, or at least the ones in our house!

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

Enjoy!