SAVORY SOUP And Super Food SWEET SALAD

 You say tomato...I say soup.

I love having soup from scratch waiting in my fridge for me when I finally get home and cozy. My mom would always make HUGE pots of chicken noodle, potato leek, minestrone, or chili, so that we could ladle a little into our lunches for days. 

As the soup thickens over time, you can just add more h2o or broth and voila! I also think the flavor gets better after a few days, while each ingredient marinates in the liquid into a hearty fusion. This soup is reminiscent of that tomato alphabet soup you may have had as a kid, except it’s so good for you. The savory flavor comes from miso instead of salt, plus those floating bits (which aren’t as fun as letters), arrree a protein packed super food! I’ve been thinking about dunking a slightly burned gooey gruyere grilled cheese in my leftovers all day, but when I initially made the soup, I had a salad dressed in elderberry Dijon dressing; inspired by Superfood Kitchen. 

TOMATO QUINOA SOUP:

(QUINOA; the butt of so many hippie jokes, right next to granola. Let em' laugh...they're missing out. Many people think quinoa is a grain, but it's actually the seed of a vegetable. The seed has about 11 grams of protein per half cup and contains all 8 essential amino acids. It also has a good amount of  vitamin E and vitamin B, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. It's the most guilt-free "comfort food" you could imagine.)

(MISO PASTE; Besides the fact that it tastes so salty, I love miso because it has a ton of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins (B-12). Yellow & white miso are the most mild, brown is medium, and red is the strongest most potent of the flavors. For this recipe, I used brown rice miso.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup tomato paste

6 cups water

1 cup uncooked quinoa

3-4 cups chopped mixed veggies of choice

3 tablespoons brown miso paste

DIRECTIONS:

Add 5 cups water to the tomato paste in a blender and pulse just enough to incorporate.

Pour into a large pot and turn the heat on to medium

Add quinoa and veggies and bring to a boil. Keep on a low boil for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked through and the veggies are tender.

Meanwhile: Pour remaining 1 cup of water and miso into blender. Pulse quickly.

Add the miso mixture to the pot and remove from heat. Serve HOT! I put chopped avocado on top.

If you dig spicy, add some sriracha or cayenne pepper like me. 

(Word of advice: Don’t overcook the vegetables! The chewiness from the broccoli and quinoa are such a good texture contrast to the broth).

KITCHEN SINK SALAD WITH:

PICKLED ONIONS: (chop 1 medium sized onion, put in a jar with 2 cups apple cider vinegar and 1 tsp. sea salt. Shake vigorously for a minute. Strain and keep onions in a sealed jar)

MULBERRY DIJON DRESSING:

Put into blender:

2/3 cups dried mulberries

3 T dijon mustard

½ cup apple juice (OR coconut water. Sounds weird, but it was perfect)

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

I added some avocado and ground flax seed! 

(Why mulberries? Mulberries are considered a top anti-aging berry and have a super high concentration of RESVERATROL, which fights radicals in your body that cause inflammation. They're also one of the few fruits to have a level of protein worth noticing.)

P.S. My brother visited me yesterday :). He even brought me eggs from home.