For those of us who can't eat anymore turkey...

I don't know about ya'll, but I can't fit another bite of turkey, ham or potatoes into my mouth. We've eaten nothing but leftovers for days, and I find myself having cravings for something simple and healthy, like a salad -- I'm craving salad, something must really be wrong with me!! Thank goodness there is a month between Christmas and Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with my mom and Magga doing all the cooking for both my side and my husband's side of the family. No small feat - especially since all 12 of us (and 3 dogs) stayed under one roof!

Now that we are back home (we were in GA for all the festivities), and want nothing to do with anything heavy and rich, we will be eating lots of this soup. It's my husband's grandma's recipe for miso soup and it is soooo good! It's very satisfying and comforting, but is still light and healthy, which is exactly what we need for our turkey day detox.

We are lucky enough to live right around the corner from a Japanese grocery store (Katagiri), so we were able to find the exact ingredients that hubby's grandma recommended. Although we have no clue what they say since all the writing is in Japanese, she showed us the boxes and we just went and got the same one. So that is what I will do for you too... Miso is on the left and Dashi on the right.

Usually when we make this soup it's very flexible with no real specifications on how much to add of what. We tried to give exact estimates of what you should add, but know that you really can eyeball when making this and don't bother getting out the measuring tools. Add as much tofu, mushrooms and green onion as you prefer.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and stayed far, far away from any malls! :)

Miso Soup

Courtesy of Bachan

2/3 cup White Miso (Amano Shiro Miso, Organic - recommended)

Water

6-8 Shitake Mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

1 packet of Dashi 

6-8 ounces of Firm Tofu, cut into small cubes

White Rice**

Green Onions, thinly sliced

• Place miso into a medium sized pot.
• Add just enough water to cover miso.
• Cook over medium heat, and stir until paste is dissolved and there are no clumps.
• Add sliced shitakes.
• Cover, stirring occasionally, and bring to a boil.
• After water boils, stir in dashi and tofu until well combined.
• Cook for a few minutes then remove from heat.
• When serving, place desired amount of white rice in in bowl, fill with soup and garnish with green onions.

** When cooking white rice, a great tip is to rinse the rice before cooking to remove some of the starch. Just fill a bowl with the uncooked rice, add water and swirl around with your hand. Drain the water and repeat until water no longer appears milky white. Your rice will then cook up beautifully.