Lentil Miso Soup.
I love, love, love lentil soup. I also love, love, love miso soup. So I decided to combine the two. Very easy and great for those weeks when you don’t have time to cook every night. I love making a giant pot of soup and reheating a little bit as I’m hungry.
Miso is one of my favorite ways to season foods. If you’ve never bought it before, don’t be intimidated. Start with a lighter miso, like yellow or chickpea and see how you like it. The longer it has been aged, the stronger the flavor.
According to Japanese mythology, “Miso is a gift to mankind from the gods to assure health, longevity and happiness.”
ingredients:
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 heaped c carrots, diced (about 3 large carrots)
1 heaped c celery, diced (3-4 stalks of celery including the leaves)
1/2 c white onion or leek, diced
note: carrots, celery and onion should all be relatively the same size so they cook evenly.
3 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 t minced fresh ginger
1/2 t fine sea salt
4 c vegetable stock
4 c water
1 1/2 c uncooked lentils, I prefer red lentils but any kind works fine
Add ins for each bowl of soup served:
1 t red miso (you can use whatever miso you prefer if you don’t have red)
1 c baby greens, swiss chard, spinach or arugula are my favorites
1 c cooked pasta
Never add miso to boiling soup! You will cook out all the important cancer fighting properties. I always add miso to my soup after I have served it. It will melt into your soup from the heat of the broth.
Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
Add in the carrots, celery, onion or leek and garlic.
Stir occasionally for 5-6 minutes and then reduce heat to low and cook for another 5-6 minutes.
Add in all the remaining ingredients, except for the add ins.
Stir and raise heat to medium.
Bring just to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender to your liking.
Taste and adjust salt if necessary, but remember that the miso you will add later is salty so don’t over season it.
When serving, place 1 teaspoon of miso and 1 cup of baby greens in the bottom of each bowl and spoon the soup over it.
I like to eat my lentil soup plain or with pasta; you can try it with cooked rice or even barley.
Enjoy!
note • you can add more veggie stock if your soup is too thick! Alternatively, you can blend it a bit with an immersion blender (or carefully in a regular blender) if it’s too thin.
Eat More Plants. 
7 Responses to “Lentil Miso Soup.”
Love the idea of this combination! I haven’t worked with miso so I will definitely add it to the list to try soon 🙂
I love lentil soup and miso, but I never thought of putting the two together. Thank you for the recipe!
Great recipe! Love the flavour combinations and protein combining going on. 🙂
This looks incredible !
Thank you, it was!!
Sprout your lentils first for a nutritional boost, if you think of it ahead! What a wonderful idea to add the miso!
Oh good idea!! Will do that next time 🙂 thanks!