Autumn Miso Soup 'egg drop' or poached egg soup

I was inspired to make an autumn miso soup. Here's what I came up with:

mostly vegetables and poached egg for my 4 year old

and the way I enjoy it myself, egg poached

and egg dropped

with applicable garnish of course

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves of garlic

4 medium carrots -- 2 cups diced
4 medium 'daikon' -- approx 4 cups chunky
3 small sweet potatoes -- approx 3 cups chunky


directions:

1. sauté the onion and garlic in the coconut oil
2. add the carrots, daikon, and sweet potato, and cook thoroughly


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ingredients:

1 sheet of kombu
1/4 cup dried mushrooms
2 tbsp tamari

12 cups water


directions:

1. simmer the ingredients together, then strain and reserve

makes 12 cups of broth

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To make 4 servings:

take:

2 - 4 tbsp miso
4 eggs
4 cups of broth
1/3 of cooked vegetables

 black sesame sesame seeds
green onions, finely sliced


directions:

1. bring 2 cups of broth to a boil and either poach each egg separately, or stir in the egg and cook it as 'egg drop'
2. meanwhile  heat up the other 2 cups of broth with the vegetables
3. in a bowl, combine the miso with a little broth, then add to the broth and vegetables, careful not to  boil
4. divide the egg and egg cooking broth equally into 4 bowls, then ladle the miso and vegetables on top
5. garnish with sliced green onion and black sesame seeds
enjoy!

super yummy

Vegetable Soup -- Crockpot does the work, I take the glory

I had a bizarre late night grocery store experience yesterday.  The grocery store near my house has recently been transformed into a 24 hour store. Historically, I would have thought "Why? Why would anyone want to shop in the middle of the night?" But yesterday evening I went to a wrap party for a show I just finished on. Wrap parties are bizarre at the best of times. People you see everyday for weeks or months show up looking generally polished and put together then proceed to get a little pie-eyed, and everyone hugs and kisses everyone, and introduces their spouses, and acts like they are best friends, even though maybe you only exchanged two words with them on set during the entire productions. Bottom line -- everyone is nice, everyone means well, and everyone wants to have good memories of the show.


Last night's wrap party was interesting because of many factors which included conversations with people that meant something entirely different than what was being said, learning the true definition of sociopath from a producer, and finding out the deep held ambitions of people that held their cards close to their chests.


Generally I feel like I have too many arms and legs and don't know what to do with all of them when I am at such events. So last night I was at least a little grateful to slink into the corner and engage in conversation with a gaffer who is both lovely and charming.


At pumpkin hour I headed home, calculating what the next day would hold. As I passed the all-night grocery store it suddenly occurred to me that I could get the ingredients I need for tonight's dinner on my way home instead of going for groceries in the morning. 15 minutes later I was back on my way, feeling like the time was well spent. Certainly, my inner misanthrope enjoyed the calm emptiness of the midnight produce section. 


I'm not sure if I've just bought into consumerism at its worst, supporting the machine that leads to the degradation of our socio-economic health. However, with the farmer's markets closed for the season, I am forced once again to be a grocery store shopped. Heck, I do believe this was my first grocery store experience since the farmer's markets ended.


Has anyone else out there done the all-night grocery store routine? If yes, is it Yea, Nay, or Meh?


Without further ado, here are the ingredients for my all-night grocery store soup:




ingredients:


2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbps minced garlic

3/4 cup finely diced onion

1 1/2 cups finely diced carrot

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (or quartered if they are large)

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

250 g green peas

1/2 tbsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chili powder
black pepper

2 cups water

4 cups chopped nappa cabbage

1 cup finely diced celery

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp miso
1/4 cup water

directions:

turn on the crockpot to high for 6 hours

1. combine the coconut oil, garlic, onion, tomato, carrot, chickpeas, green peas, sea salt, chili powder, and black pepper.
2. pour on 2 cups boiling water
3. layer on the chopped nappa cabbage
4. top with celery
5. after everything is cooked, stir in the peanut butter and miso, and turn the heat off or to warm, and allow to sit for 1 hour.

This soup is super. We ate it with green onion pancakes, but it would also be fab with flat bread, socca, freshly baked bread, nothing but a spoon, etc.

Quick and Easy Miso Broth for When You're in the Mood.

Sometimes I'm in the mood for a light soup -- a miso soup chock full of match-sticked veggies. I found myself with some black radishes in the fridge -- after my experiences with simmered daikon radish in Japan I am particularly fond of radishes in miso soup. I cut the radishes into rounds, then the rounds into sticks. I did the same with some carrots -- cut 'em into medallions, then into sticks. I even did the same with some ginger. I then put the veggies in a pot with a handful of wakame seaweed, covered the whole thing with water, added a splash of organic, wheat-free tamari, and a little sea salt. After the veggies have simmered to softness, I will turn stir in some miso paste, and bring it up to heat without boiling it.

You can really use whatever veggies you have around that can take a little simmering. Kale is fab. Broccoli? Why not. Whatever you like.

This is a very light tasting soup, and something I find very satisfying in the evening when I don't want a heavy meal. The ginger, toasted sesame, and seaweed are all mellowed and balanced by the savoury richness of the miso, bringing out the delicate sweetness of the veggies and creating a beautifully complete taste sensation.

You can also jazz it up by doing an egg drop into the miso soup, cooking it carefully so the egg cooks without boiling, and you don't kill the enzymes in your miso.

Yummy :)

ingredients:

3 black radishes -- sliced into rounds, and then cut into sticks (or whatever veggie strikes your fancy)
1 carrot -- sliced into medallions and then cut into sticks (ditto)
ginger root -- finely minced

1/2 cup dried wakame

soy sauce -- organic tamari is my choice, wheat free
sea salt

miso paste -- organic

water

roasted sesame seeds -- optional (for sprinkling on top)


directions:

1. places cut vegetables in a pot
2. top with ginger and wakame
3. add water to cover, and bring to a boil
4. simmer gently until the vegetables are pleasing
5. add miso paste (first mix with a little water in a small bowl and then add to the pot)
6. if the soup has cooled down by this addition, bring back to heat, but don't boil

really, fantastic.

Green Sesame Noodles with Bok Choy Saute

green sesame noodles with bok choy saute

We received another organic bin this week, and in it was baby bok choy. Really lovely fresh baby bok choy. I thought green noodles would make a wholesome backdrop to a saute of baby bok choy, perhaps sauced with something in the miso honey and ginger family ...

I wanted to see what would happen if I added chia seeds to my standard green noodle recipe. And then tossed them with coconut oil and toasted sesame seeds after cooking. Here's the amended noodle recipe, and the saute recipe follows.

green sesame chia noodles:

ingredients:

150 g frozen organic spinach, defrosted

1 organic egg (xl or l)

1/2 cup almond flour

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 chia seeds

1 1/2 cups  kamut flour

directions:

1. in a food processor, puree the defrosted spinach. If you are using fresh spinach, let me know how it turns out.

2. add the egg and combine

3. add the sea salt, chia seeds, and almond meal, and combine

4. add 1 1/2 cups kamut flour, and pulse to combine.

5. gather the dough into a ball, flatten, wrap, and set aside to 'rest'.

6. divide the dough into 4 parts

7. roll each part on a mat sprinkled with kamut flour, using a rolling pin sprinkled with kamut flour.

8. if the dough is too sticky, add more kamut flour

9. roll the dough out until it is nice and thin

10. make sure the surface is well sprinkled with kamut flour, and roll it up 

11. set the roll aside and repeat with the other portions of dough

12. once all the portions of dough have been rolled up, cut them into spirals using a sharp chef's knife or bread knife (I prefer a bread knife because the serrated blade makes this task easier)

13. uncoil the spirals and lay them out

14. put the noodles in boiling water spiked with a little oil, and cook for 2 minutes.

15. drain the noodles, and toss with coconut oil and a couple of table spoons of toasted sesame seeds

Ready to roll

Green noodle dough with chia seeds. What country does this look like?

A spiral

Three rolled up portions of dough

Cutting them efficiently with a serrated blade

Spirals before they are unrolled

the noodle spirals, after cutting, before unravelling

unravelling the noodle spirals

boiled for 2 minutes, and tossed with coconut oil, a pinch of sea salt, and toasted sesame seeds

bok choy saute:

ingredients:

2 lbs baby bok  choy, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups carrots, cut into medallions then sticks
1 celery rib, cut on the diagonal, then into strips
1 cup raw almonds
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 or 2 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger

up to 1 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp miso paste
1 tbsp honey
1 or 2 tbsp lemon juice


directions:

1. heat the coconut oil in a large saute pan, and add the almonds, carrots, celery, and ginger, with a little sea salt. Cook until happy.
2. add the baby bok choy and a little sea salt, and stir
3. mix the miso, honey, lemon juice in a small bowl
4. add the miso paste to the vegetables, and combine well
5. serve on a bed of sesame tossed green noodles


Now, if you want to orchestrate the making of this meal in a way that fits into your busy life, you can do it in stages:

1. make the dough, and wrap it and put it in the fridge. The dough can easily be made a day ahead.
2. at your leisure, roll out the dough in 4 parts, roll up the dough, and slice. Put in an airtight container, and put it back in fridge
3. at your leisure, clean and cut the carrots and celery, and store in an airtight container.
4. Before cooking, measure out your ingredients into 'junbi' bowls. 'Junbi' is the Japanese word for 'preparation'. A student of mine who was an amateur gourmet cook used to say to me 'Ryori wa junbi desu', which means 'Cooking is all in the preparation'.
5. You can actually saute up your almonds, carrots, celery, and ginger earlier, and leave 'em in the pan on the stove.
6. Bring water to a boil at the same time as the carrots and almonds are done cooking, and hot.
7. Add the bok choy and do your thing with it, and then toss in the sauce. When that is all ready, set it aside, and cook your noodles. They only need 2 minutes. When the noodles are done, drain 'em, and toss  'em with a little coconut oil and sesame seeds. Put a little bed of noodles in a bowl, and top with the vege stir-fry. Easy-peasy!

ready to top the noodles

ta-da!

:)