Spring Vegetable Miso Soup

Ingredients: 

• 2 carrots
• 1 medium yellow or sweet onion
• 5 cremini or shitake mushrooms
• 8 cups beef bone broth, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• 1 box non-GMO tofu
• 2 heads pak choi, or 6 leaves bok choy
• ¼ cup miso
• optional: garnish of sesame oil, soy sauce , rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Note: homemade beef bone broth, or other stocks will give this soup the best flavor. If using store-bought, you may need to garnish up the soup with the optional garnishes.

How to make it: 

Dice the onion and slice the mushrooms. Place both in a thick bottomed soup pot on medium heat. Add two-three tablespoons olive oil. Sauté for roughly 5-8 minutes, or until the onions just begin to caramelize. For a stronger flavor, fully caramelize the onions (8+ minutes). Add the beef bone broth or stock at this time. Increase the heat to high to bring the soup to a boil.

Thinly slice the carrots and add to the soup.  Once the soup is boiling, reduce heat to medium, and allow it to low-boil-simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Check periodically with a fork.

Pak choi fresh from the garden

Meanwhile, pull apart each leaf of the pak choi and rinse. If using bok choy, rinse each leaf and roughly chop into large two inch chunks. Set aside. Take the tofu block out and slice and then cube it into half inch cubes. Set aside.

Once the carrots are tender in the soup, reduce heat to low. Add the pak choi, tofu, and the miso at this time. Stir until the miso is completely dissolved. Taste test it to decide if you need to add any garnish, then ladle it up and serve.