Simple Mushroom Soba Noodle Soup with Miso

Yesterday started out really upbeat and didn’t end on a good note. I was in such a good mood after exercising and running all my errands that I decided to treat myself to a little down time with a little Netflix. Next time I will stick to comedies. When you are sad avoid any movie where someone dies. *rolls eyes* What a bad plan it was to watch anything yesterday. Like I said earlier I will stick to comedies for a while.

Since I spent the afternoon sniffling and feeling generally blue I was not in the mood to cook. For dinner we had a simple mushroom soba noodle soup with miso and salad. As you all know I have been trying to add more mushrooms to our diet for their antiproliferative properties. Thankfully like both like mushrooms so that works for us. I have also been including marinated mushrooms or mushroom pate in our lunch. By including the mushrooms in the salad it is easy to make certain that we get them every day, or at least most days. ;-)

I ended up making a mushroom soup last night for a few reasons. First it is fast and that was important last night because Dan came home earlier than usual to surprise me. Second soup is generally low in calories but is still very filling and satisfying. Third we both love miso soup and I had not made it in a long time. Here is what I did:

Simple Mushroom Soba Noodle Soup with Miso
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 cups dried mushrooms (any variety will do, shitake, maitake or enoki would be most traditional)
6 cups water
2 by 3 inch piece of kombu cut into small ¼ inch squares
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before cooking)
1 bundle soba noodles
2 teaspoons miso (I used barley miso)

Optional Garnish Ingredients:

fresh chives, finely diced
drizzle of toasted sesame oil (a little goes a very long way to add aroma)

Directions:

Combine the mushrooms and water and heat in your microwave until hot. Allow the mushrooms to soak for at least 30 minutes, or until they have softened. Now strain the mushroom cooking liquid through a very fine wire strainer or a standard strainer lined with damp paper towel or cheesecloth to catch any sediment that came off the mushrooms. Cut the mushrooms into bite size pieces.

Simmer mushrooms, mushroom soaking liquid, kombu and garlic for 10 minutes. Add the soba to the pot and cook according to the package directions. My packaged indicated a cooking time of 6 to 7 minutes and I thought they were ready in 5.

If desired top the soup with chives and/or a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.

Nutritional information (does not include the optional ingredients):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 233.96
Calories From Fat (7%) - 15.86

Total Fat - 1.82g
Saturated Fat - 0.09g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 962.01mg
Potassium - 59.68mg
Total Carbohydrates - 48.27g
Fiber - 2.56g
Sugar - 0.48g
Protein - 10.33g

Comments:

If you mushrooms and miso this is a nice light soup that is still satisfying. Did you know that miso soup is a traditional Japanese breakfast? In the winter I could eat it most mornings for breakfast if it weren’t for the sodium level. The miso adds sodium but the kombu adds three times a much. If you want to reduce the sodium level add less kombu.

Food since the last post:

For lunch yesterday I had another giant salad of 1 head of romaine, 1 heirloom tomato, 1 grated carrot, ½ avocado, marinated mushrooms and salsa.

Dinner was the mushroom miso soup from above. To go with the soup last night I made us a simple green salad of shredded romaine, nutritional yeast, heirloom tomato, and almond feta.

For breakfast this morning we had a watermelon salad that contained: cubed water melon, a sprinkling of sumac and more almond feta.

To accompany the watermelon salad we had oatmeal with cinnamon, powdered ginger, ground flaxseeds, peaches and blackberries.

The meal today with the omnis is going to be a simple one. I am making what I call farmers’ market soup because it s al stuff I bought at the market. It will be veggie soup topped with either pesto or salsa and some sort of salad. I haven’t worked out the details yet. Once I get it finished I will post the recipes.

I hope everyone is having a glorious day. Our weather is stupendous again today. Temps in the mid 70 again this morning just called us outside. The day has started well, hopefully it stays that way. Since Saturday is typically movie night at our house you can bet I am picking a comedy. No downer movies for me for the foreseeable future.

I need to run and work on the farmers’ market soup and figure out what type of salad I am making. Talk to you all again soon.