Homemade 'stuffed' miso soup

Please be warned that ingredients for my miso soup is eye-balled so nothing is really measured. I'll try to be as accurate as possible.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• half a head of Chinese cabbage, roughly chopped
• one bunch mustard cabbage, roughly chopped
• one bunch bok choy, roughly chopped
• one block firm tofu, cubed
• 16 oz block of kamaboko (fish cake)
• one package hon-dashi soup stock
• 0.25 cup miso paste or to taste

1.) Dilute miso paste in warm water and pour into a large pot of boiling water (about 6 cups water). Add hon-dashi and stir until dissolved.

2.) Roughly chop all leafy veggies and add to pot.


3.) Add cubed tofu to pot and bring soup back to a boil.

4.) Once soup is boiling, lower heat and slowly pour in whisked eggs while stirring the pot. This creates strands of cooked egg (think egg drop soup style).
5.) Enjoy with some rice at the bottom of the bowl.

Mini-Review
I have grown up eating miso soup so I LOVE it! You can substitute almost any veggie that you want in this recipe, but the ones I used are 'traditional' in my family. I usually use fresh cubed daikon also but forgot about it when I was making it this time!

Food porn!

Vietnamese pho.

Warm lentil and leek soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 3 big leeks (white and light green parts only), cut into 1/2 inch half-moons
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bunch Swiss chard or kale, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup brown lentils, dry
• 1 tbs. fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• Feta cheese (optional, but OH SO GOOD!)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot set over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes or until tomatoes break apart.

3. Add six cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir in sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, lentils, thyme, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Lower heat, cover pot and let simmer about 20 - 30 minutes, or until sweet potato and lentils cooked through.



5. ENJOY with a sprinkle of feta and a little more cayenne on top!

Mini-Review
At first I didn't like this soup... a little too sweet for me. But once I added more black pepper, salt, red chili flakes and cayenne pepper I totally loved this soup! Despite not having any meat in the dish, this is a very hearty and filling soup because of all the fibery (is that a word?) veggies. The original recipe called for Parmesan cheese but since I didn't have any I substituted feta and it was delish!!

Things I'd do the next time:

• add a can of whole kernel corn
• use only one sweet potato and one regular potato
• more swiss chard
• add a cup or two of chicken broth in place of one or two cups of water
• add barley
• more lentils
• cook it with a mild, white fish

Barley chicken stew

I absolutely L-O-V-E barley so using it was a no-brainer! Whole grain barley (hulled barley, not pearl - and yes I know I used pearl) is packed with fiber, protein, and a whole slew of nutrition. Read about barley here, here, and here. This recipe uses a slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 32oz low-sodium chicken broth
• 8oz water
• 2 garlic gloves, minced
• 0.5 tbsp thyme
• 0.5 tbsp basil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1.5 lbs uncooked chicken breast, cubed
• 0.5c uncooked black-eyed peas, rinsed
• 0.5c uncooked barley, rinsed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large russet potatoes, cubed
• 2 carrots, cubed
• 8 tbsp plain greek yogurt (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

1.) Combine chicken broth, water, garlic, herbs, and pepper in slow cooker. Add chicken, black-eyed peas, and barley.

2.) Then layer onions, potatoes, and carrots on top. Veggies should be covered with liquid in slow cooker, but if not, add more broth. Do not stir!

3.) Allow to simmer overnight (or any time you're home) for about 4 - 6 hours. Remove bay leaves and stir stew so ingredients are well mixed.
Optional: Add a tbsp of greek yogurt to each bowl before serving. ENJOY!