Miso for a cold winter morning

Marina enjoys her miso soup, rice noodles, hard boiled egg, and broccoli.

It's worth saying again: Miso is my favorite healthy breakfast (I have some favorite less-healthy ones too that involve ketchup). One reason I love it so much, it's very versatile.  You can use just about any vegetable from your fridge, a variety of proteins, and noodles or rice.  Here are some of my favorite things to add to miso soup:

rice noodles
wild rice
salmon
tofu
soft boiled eggs
wakame
hijiki
arame
edamame beans
broccoli, carrots, celery

You only need a few of the ingredients from the above list for your soup.  Simple is usually better.  I mix a tablespoon of aged miso paste with a few tablespoons of warm water until all the chunks are gone.  Then I bring a kettle of water to boil, letting it cool slightly so as to not kill the good bacteria in the miso paste when they are mixed.  Add the hot water to the miso mixture and your favorite precooked ingredients, and you have breakfast!

itadakimasu!

Believe it or not, this breakfast is a favorite of my kids.  They love it, especially when we have seaweed to add to it. 

Today's breakfast: red miso with fried potatoes, broccoli, and rice noodles.

My favorite Miso paste, aged red miso, also wheat and gluten free.

Here is a wild rice miso soup with edamame beans and broccoli I made last week.

Tofu-Wakame Breakfast Soup

Miso soup is my favorite breakfast.  It is hydrating and highly nutritious.  Every time I eat it I feel satisfied and energized.  My 4 and 2 year old children also enjoy it.  We like using rice noodles, like the type you use for pad thai, but in the picture above, we used Trader Joes Brown Rice Spiral Noodles, as we had used the thin long noodles up the morning before.  Seves 2-4 adults, depending on how hungry they are, or 2 adults and 2 children.

Tofu-Wakame Breakfast Soup

1 package of rice noodles, cooked and set aside.  You will use about 2 cups of cooked noodles for the soup.
1 large carrot, chopped small
2 celery sticks, chopped
5 oz of tofu, chopped into small squares, I used extra firm tofu, about 1/3 to 1/2 of a block of tofu you buy in water at store.
2 TBS wakame seaweed rehydrated (makes 1 cup after hydration)
1 head of broccoli chopped into small florets
2-4 TBS Red Miso (it is aged 1 year for stronger flavor).  Mix 2-4 TBS with a little water until there are no pieces, just a thick paste.  You will add this mixed paste to the soup after it cools, as miso has naturally occurring healthy baceria and you do not want to kill it, as it aids in digestion.

Boil 1.5-2 quarts of water in a pan.  When it comes to a boil, add broccoli, carrots, celery and cook for about 5 minutes or until soft, but still slightly firm.  Let soup cool for another 5 minutes then add tofu, noodles and thick Miso paste. 

I keep the seaweed on the side and add it to each indiviual bowl.  It will get soggy and slimy if you heat it up very much.  It is wonderful added to a soup.  So keep it on the side until you are ready to serve the soup.  You can drain the extra water from the seaweed and store it in the fridge in a tupperware.  It is great added to rice, noodles, soup, or even on its own.    When I have it on its own I add almonds, edamame beans and soy sauce.