Chunks of hearty vegetables swimming in a mild broth make this soup healthful and energizing. Treat your body to a bowlful when you’ve had a hard day or if you feel a cold coming on; you’ll feel better.
SERVES 4
6 cups vegetable stock
1 leek sliced
2 cups chopped daikon radish
2 cups chopped sweet potato or winter squash
1 cup sliced carrots
1 block tofu, cut into ¾˝ cubes
1˝ fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Bring stock to the boil in a large soup pot. Add vegetables, tofu, garlic, and ginger. When the stock has returned to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
1 cup corn kernels or snow peas
1 cup broccoli florets
1 bunch green onions, diced
Drop vegetables into the soup and simmer another 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables are tender.
3 to 4 T. miso
Ladle ½ cup broth from the pot into a bowl. Stir miso into reserved broth until dissolved. Return to soup; stir well and remove from heat. (Do not allow soup to boil again after miso has been added.) Serve immediately. This soup keeps well in the fridge for 3 to 4 days; the flavour improves with time.
Soup is not an exact science. There’s no need to measure vegetables precisely, or to conform rigidly to the ones listed here. My friend Dann McCann creates endless variations of this soup with produce in season, especially root vegetables. For stock he uses the cooking water from steamed vegetables, drained and kept in a jar in the refrigerator.
Variations: Rinse and chop a piece of kombu (a sea vegetable) into 1˝ lengths; drop it into the pot to simmer with the other vegetables. Add or substitute turnip or parsnip, thinly sliced burdock root, or sliced shiitake mushrooms.
In the final minutes of cooking, stir in 1 cup cooked millet or cooked aduki beans. Add 1 or 2 T. of tamari or toasted sesame oil for flavour.