Soul-Healing Super Green Miso (Vegan, Gluten Free)
In the slim pearly light of another grey day, I am slurping the last dregs of a bowl of miso. I stare out the window at my tangled, leafless mulberry tree. Below the mulberry are two barren rose of Sharon trees. Their brown seed pods face the sky like dried daisies, if daisies were daggers.
I often find myself in this place. Watching. Wistful. With a hot bowl of something in my lap. Sitting in front of my computer, at my desk, searching for something to say.
Sometimes, the prose melts from my mind onto the page like so much butter on toast.
Lately, however, my best efforts have afforded me more songs and riffs than anything. Poems, sometimes, if I’m lucky and attentive.
And that’s what happens every time I sit down to write for this blog.
Lots and lots and lots of art.
Mostly snippets, like loose threads pulled from great ornate rugs. Hints at greater mysteries.
But not too much in the way of straightforward delineations on soup.
So a ramble will just have to do.
Noodles swim in a dark green broth, cozying up to browned cauliflower, celery, kale. I stick a fork in. It's 9am.
I have been known to eat this soul healing super green miso soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's how much I love it.
Miso is an all-day, anytime meal for me. It always makes me feel grounded and vibrant. It's a sort of soul food, especially when deeply nourishing spirulina and adaptogenic mushrooms get involved.
I have to say, this is a pretty powerful soup!
The base of this miso noodle soup is celery and cauliflower, sautéed until meltingly soft and beginning to brown. Then you add water, kale, tofu (or protein of choice), spirulina, adaptogenic mushroom powder (I used this blend of turkey tail, maitake, shiitake, cordyceps and reishi), some shredded nori seaweed and noodles. Once the noodles are soft, you add in miso paste and spices. And voila! A nourishing, soul-healing soup to warm your bones on a cold winter night (or morning, if you're me!).
But why, you might ask, did I include spirulina and adaptogenic mushroom powder? GOOD QUESTION.
Well, first of all spirulina is one of the most powerful singular foods out there. It detoxifies heavy metals, helps prevent cancer, reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure AND it's a good source of protein, iron, vitamins, minerals and beta-carotene. And that's just the start.
But it's also very, well, oceanic in flavor. It is an algae, after all. And yeah, it tastes like what you think algae tastes like.
This soup is my answer to consuming spirulina in a pleasant way. For a long time I tried to get down with putting spirulina in sweet things, with the hope that the fruit would cover up spirulina's saline savoriness. I still do it, sometimes, but only because HEALTH. My solution, in lieu of choking down another banana-mango-spirulina nice cream bowl, is to add it to savory things.
Spirulina is begging to get swirled into salty soups. And unctuous miso soup is the perfect medium for getting that intensely dark green goodness into your body.
Oh and adaptogenic mushroom powder! Medicinal mushrooms have been proven to have a range of therapeutic benefits (anti-cancer, immune boosting, anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-hypertensive, anti-oxidant etc.). Many medicinal mushrooms promote homeostasis in the body. If I had my way they would be in everyones cupboards and medicine cabinets!
I have this awesome blend of powdered medicinal mushrooms from OM that I've been putting into everything. I put it in smoothies, hot breakfast cereals and truffles. But it's also excellent in savory applications, especially broths!
Now the medicinal mushroom powder is optional. You don't need it to have a super green miso. But that's how I've been eating it, so if you have it on hand why not toss it in, eh?
Soul Healing Super Green Miso
Created by Renee on January 11, 2017
A one-pot, 20 minute miso noodle soup perfect for a cold winter night!
- Prep Time: 5m
- Cook Time: 15m
- Total Time: 20m
- Yield: 1 large serving or two small servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup cauliflower florets, chopped roughly
- 2 celery stalks (~1 cup), chopped roughly
- 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 cup frozen kale (or 1 cup tightly packed fresh kale, chopped finely)
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon spirulina
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 4 ounces rice noodles (I used 1/2 of an 8 ounce package of pad thai style rice noodles)
- optional: 1 teaspoon powdered medicinal mushrooms (maitake, reishi, king trumpet, etc.)
- 1/2 cup extra firm tofu, diced (or cooked chickpea / lentils / protein of choice)
- 2 sheets nori, ripped into small bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon mellow white miso paste
- 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt + more to taste
- cayenne, to taste
- to serve (optional): sprouts, avocado, toasted sesame or sunflower seeds, hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat a soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add the cauliflower, celery and coconut oil. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables softens and the cauliflower begins to brown. Stir in the garlic and sauté two minute more.
- Add the ginger, kale, water, spirulina, apple cider vinegar, mushroom powder (optional), tofu and noodles. Use a spoon to submerge the noodles completely. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook until the noodles are soft (pad thai noodles typically take around 8 minutes).
- Remove from the heat and stir in the nori, miso paste, salt and cayenne. Taste and adjust salt + cayenne to your liking.
- Serve in big soup bowls topped with sprouts, avocado, toasted seeds and hot sauce.