I admit I was pretty intimidated by this recipe for Hearty Miso Soup from Fat Free Vegan!  First, I had to find miso paste.  I didn’t see it in either Stop & Shop or Shaw’s.  At Whole Foods, I found the miso paste in a plastic tub in the refrigerated section near the tempeh and other soy products.  That is the only ingredient you have to find to make this recipe.  You could easily substitute linguine for the soba noodles, and any green for the baby bok choy.  If you don’t have garlic ginger paste, you could use a combination of minced garlic and fresh ginger.  I left out the seaweed and wasabi because they just aren’t my thing.  So the bottom line: there is no reason to be intimidated, just take things one ingredient at at time.

After all that, I was so happy with how fresh this soup tasted!  The vegetables are bright and the miso is mild here and not too salty.  It’s the perfect bowl of soup on a cold day, and well worth the time I spent searching for miso.  I hope you feel the same way if you try it.

Hearty Miso Soup

1 t canola oil
2 T garlic ginger paste
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4″ slices
1 (10 oz.) package mushrooms, sliced thinly
8 c. water
1 c. shelled edamame
4 oz. buckwheat soba noodles
1 lb. baby bok choy, thinly sliced
1/3 c. miso

Heat oil in a large pot.  Add garlic ginger paste and stir for 2 minutes.  Add carrots and mushrooms and stir to coat.  Add water, and simmer covered for 15 minutes.  Add edamame, and simmer covered for 5 minutes.  Add noodles and bok choy, and boil for 7-8 minutes.

Remove 1 cup of broth from pot and place in a small bowl.  Add miso and whisk to combine.  Return broth to pot.  Stir well and serve (do not boil after this point.)

-Adapted from Fat Free Vegan

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