Quick Miso Soup

Fermented foods like miso are great for your health. No need to make dashi from scratch for this, veggie broth stands in for it and the nori (flat seaweed sheets used to wrap sushi) gives the flavor of the sea. Use light-colored miso in warm weather, dark miso in the winter. Miso should never be boiled, it changes the flavor and kills the beneficial probiotics in it. Adapted from "Living the G. I. Diet".

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4  cups vegetable broth (low fat, low sodium)
• 2  cups water
• 1  sheet nori
• 1  cup  diced firm tofu
• 1  cup  thinly sliced mushroom
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce or 1  tablespoon tamari
• 3  tablespoons miso
• 3  scallions, thinly sliced on the bias

Directions

1. Bring the broth and water to a boil in a soup pot.
2. Tear the nori into bite-size pieces (or shred it thinly) Add the nori, tofu, mushrooms, and soy sauce to the pot, reduce heat and simmer until the mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Place the miso in a small cup or ramekin and add a ladleful of the hot soup mixture to it. Mix thoroughly with a fork, then pour the thinned miso into the soup pot and stir well. Serve hot, garnished with scallions.