Daniel Fast Adventure #1 - Miso Soup with Spinach and Kale Salad

I've always wanted to make miso soup. It's one of the few soups my husband actually likes, and in this cold weather, soup is an absolute must. I felt like it was the perfect recipe for our first dinner after starting our Daniel Fast.

I decided to combine this recipe: http://veganyackattack.com/2012/11/13/mushroom-onion-miso-soup/and this one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/miso-soup/ to create a miso soup that was more to my liking.

I personally like to take recipes and adapt and change them as I see fit. I'm sure you'll do the same. I've even made the recipe flexible in the ingredients listed below:

Ingredients:
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 package of silken tofu, diced
4 cups miso broth and 3 cups water OR 7 cups water and 3tbs miso paste
4 green onions, sliced or chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1tsp sesame oil
2 cups kale, spinach or seaweed mixture  (I used kale and spinach as the store had no seaweed at the time)
2 cups mushrooms, sliced (I used Monterrey Mushrooms, only because they were half the price of Shitake mushrooms)

I bought all of my ingredients at Sprouts. You really can't beat their prices when it comes to farmer's market grade quality. 2 hours were spent in that store and I enjoyed every minute of it. Gotta check those labels when you're doing a Daniel Fast! (That said, I might have cheated a little bit....) I also bought some of their Fruit and Veggie Wash.

One of my students did a science project about Fruit and Veggie wash, and I was convinced. Don't even get me started on the one that kept a McDonald's Cheeseburger for 30 days without it rotting a single bit. That's part of why I'm trying to eat healthier!

Full disclosure: The Miso Broth pictured does contain cane sugar. The store did not have miso, so I was stuck buying this. I would have rather done things a bit more authentically, but all of their other miso replacement products seemed less healthy than this one. Next time I will go somewhere else to look for miso.

Directions:
1. Place the both types of onions into a large pot over medium heat, along with the 2 tbsp. of water and cover with lid. If the onions start to stick to the pan, add the olive oil one tbsp at a time. Stir the onions every 2-3 minutes and add the garlic in once they start to turn clear.

2. After roughly 7-8 minutes, add the mushrooms to the pan and cover with lid, stirring occasionally until they reduce in size and become soft.

It smells AMAZING at this point, just sayin'.

 3. Carefully pour the miso broth (or 7 cups of water and miso paste) into the pot. Cover with lid and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat for 10 minutes.

4. Add the seaweed or kale and,tofu pieces and sesame oil, stirring until mixed and warm.

Tofu looks so weird

Pretty yummy! Husband approved, too!

For the salad, I used the leftover pieces of the kale/seaweed mix and I cut up some peppers. I mixed a little olive oil and sesame seed oil and garlic powder for a simple salad dressing. It was yummy. I may even use more sesame oil if I do it again.

What I would do differently:
If I made this again, I would definitely find real miso, chopped the onions into smaller pieces, and try and find seaweed. I'll post again if I repeat the recipe with a variation!