Tag Archives: soups

Healthy, Less than 5, Soups, Vegetarian

Less than 5: Quick Miso Soup

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I am a huge fan of most all Japanese foods, especially sushi. As evidenced from my ill-fated attempts at Salmon Nigiri and Lazy Won-Ton Soup, I am by no means a Japanese chef. But I do try, so I feel like I get some credit for that.

This is my super fast and easy imitation miso soup. Keep in mind I had no miso paste, which kinda makes the soup… so if you do, add that! If not, this is sort of close. You will need some specialized ingredients, but honestly most common grocery stores like King Soopers are now carrying similar items in their “ethnic” section.

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch scallions
  • 1 tbsp duck paste (you can use chicken bouillon too)
  • 2-3 sheets seaweed
  • 1/2 block tofu
  • Optional: 1 pack ramen noodles

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Step 1: Slice the tofu into small squares. Cut the seaweed into strips. Slice all the green part of the scallions diagonally.

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Step 2: Bring the water to a boil and stir in the duck paste or chicken bouillon. Add the scallions, seaweed, and tofu. And that’s it!

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This soup is delightfully salty and packs a heavy umami punch.

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Add some glass or ramen noodles for extra filling power. You can have this soup as an appetizer, part of a light lunch, or as a whole meal. Quite healthy, if you’re ok with a high-ish sodium content… you can omit the bouillon but the taste will suffer.

Soups

Souppa like Zuppa Toscana

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I still had some sausage left over from my sausage gravy & biscuits, plus half a bunch of kale that hadn’t been made into kale chips. (If you’ve never tried kale chips, I definitely recommend it! Kale is super good for you but can be bitter, and this is a super simple way to get your leafy greens). A quick internet search for “sausage and kale” quickly showed a trend towards this “Zuppa Toscana” that Olive Garden makes (don’t sue me please!) that lots of people claim to mimic.

Well as any loyal reader knows, I’m not a ‘by-the-book’ recipe follower, so I just took the general idea and ran with it. What happened was a simple, delicious soup that quite frankly surprised me with how tasty it was. With really only 4 ingredients and 30 minutes, a warm, filling and complex soup for dinner can be yours!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound sausage
1/2 bunch kale, shredded
2-3 large potatoes, diced
6 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbsp cornstarch
Italian seasonings

Step 1: Brown the sausage in a frying pan. Drain most of the fat and set aside.

Step 2: Dice the potatoes into thin wedges. There’s no right or wrong way really. Most copy-cat recipes use redskins but I only have russet so those will do. Drop them into a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork.

Step 3: While the potatoes boil, rip the kale into bite sized pieces, discarding the stems. When the potatoes are soft, drain and put back into the pot.

Step 4: Add water, bouillon, seasoning, kale and sausage. If you’re on a super budget the spices and bouillon aren’t required, just kicks up the flavor a notch. If you’re flush with cash, try adding half heavy cream and half chicken stock to make a creamier base soup. Of course, if you’re rolling in Benjamins you could also just go out to Olive Garden for dinner tonight…and we should be friends. Email me k?

Step 5: Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes. In a cup, combine some hot soup water and the cornstarch and mix. Once it’s all dissolved add it to the pot. This will help it to thicken. Also not completely required, but I like a little body. You could use flour for the same purpose.

The flavors combine beautifully into a rich soup that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely make this again. If only I had some salad and bread sticks to go with it.