Miso and Tofu Soup

The aroma of certain foods can be smelled with your soul. I know it sounds cheesy as all hell, but I think it's true of a lot of dishes.  Your grandma's chicken dumpling soup? Fresh baked sourdough bread?  A steaming cup of Chai tea after shoveling snow for hours? Yes. That's what I mean by smelling with your soul, so cheesy as it may sound, I think it's a decent description. I have felt that way about miso soup since my first experience at a Japanese restaurant so many  years ago, when I thought it was akin to egg drop soup, which I don't like much. When persuaded to try it and trial my new-found chop-sticks skills, ( Which resulted in more sipping than sticking at this point) I was forever in love. Miso soup is what I go to over chicken noodle, because it just soothes me when I don't feel good. I have a cat named Tofu, and I always dreamed of getting her a companion and naming her Miso, which sadly hasn't  happened due to the husband's cat allergy. This is a great quick and healthy soup that I love all winter long as a side dish with sushi or just as a snack on a cold winter's night.

Miso and Tofu Soup

-2 cups vegetable stock

-2 cups water

-1/4 cup yellow miso paste

-6 oz. package of silken tofu, in small cubes

-8 sheets dried seaweed, cut into sheets

-1/4 cup scallions

Directions: In a soup pot, bring stock and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Then add miso and whisk in until dissolved. Simmer 8 minutes, then add the tofu and scallions and simmer another 5 minutes.  Add seaweed after removing from heat.

*Makes 4 servings

*level: easy

I know the spoon makes it look a little in-authentic. but I couldn't find mine! Besides, this soup is more fun to sip anyway. It's such an easy and flavorful soup, no matter how you ingest it, you'll be happy!