Spring Miso Vegetable Soup

I made this spring inspired miso soup for the last retreat I cooked for. It came out warm and filling, yet had that light and flavorful touch I was hoping for. Sometimes when spring truly comes we are ready to give up the thick, creamy and hearty soups that have been keeping us warm and nourished throughout the winter, but still our bodies are needing that lighter, warm and nourishing broth and vegetables to help get us through the whirlwind of spring and seasonal changes. This soup used the miso based broth which I was new to trying, but I was pleasantly surprised to truly love it especially paired with sauted mushrooms and wild rice. Such a flavorful touch and grounding combo. I hope you give it a try, especially if you are looking for ways to try miso, bok choy or even the fresh spring peas that you might be starting to see at your newly opening farmer's market.

I wasn't able to snap more pictures and thankfully I captured one before the soup got eaten up, but hopefully these flavors and new recipe ingreidents will leave you inspired to give it a whirl- seriously worth it if you are feeling adventurous and looking for a warm and delightful spring soup.

Much love and happy cooking, xoxo

Spring Miso Vegetable Soup Recipe
{gluten, dairy, egg, seed and nut-free}

3-4 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 cup of sauted mushrooms
1 TB of olive oil
1 cup of wild rice cooked in
2 cups of water and 1/2 ts. of sea salt

In a small pot, saute the garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until soft, then add in the dry wild rice and saute the dry rice into the oil for a few minutes, then add in the water and a good hearty pinch of sea salt. Let cook on medium heat until it starts to bubble- then turn down heat to low and cover and let cook at low until water is gone and then turn off the heat and let it sit under cover for another 15 or so minutes for the rice to finish it's cooking. Then it is ready to dump into the rest of the soup...

In a large soup pot add the following...

1-2 TB of olive oil
1 bunch of boy choy washed, dried and cut up (about 2 cups)
3-4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup of white onion finely chopped
1 cup of finely chopped green onions or scallions
1 ts. of sea salt
1 ts. of black pepper

Saute the above until soft, about 10 minutes, then add the water, beans, cooked wild rice and the rest of the ingredients. Once the water is warm with all the soup ingredients you can drop in the 2 TB of miso paste and watch it dissolve and flavor the broth. Let it cook in for another 5 minutes, but then it is ready to serve. It is a super quick soup to make after you make the rice rice. It is ready to serve within 15 minutes or so after everything is mixed into the broth together. 

6-8 cups of water (can add more if you want it more brothy)
1 29 ounce can of white beans 
1 heaping cup of fresh spring sweet peas
1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley
2 TB of Eden shiro rice miso paste

If you would like to sub in thinly sliced asparagus unstead of peas, I think that could be a nice spring touch. If you wanted to add in kale instead of boy choy I think that could work too, but the bok choy truly adds a simple new flavor and I love how the stalks get soft and easy to eat within the soup. Give it a try!

Much love as always! Hope you are finding new ways to stay inspired int he kitchen this spring- this soup is here to help and also if you haven't gotten to your local farmer's market yet- that is a great place to start as well.... you should be seeing some spring greens, peas, and asparagus popping up.