Miso Soup

I bought miso paste on a whim awhile back, thinking I could make miso soup with tofu, scallions, and little else.  When I got home and looked up a recipe, I realized most miso soup includes dashi granules, which have fish in them, so I had to find a basic vegetarian recipe.  I'll be using this one from About.com.

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup miso
• 3 green onions (scallions), chopped
• 1 tbsp shredded nori or wakame seaweed
• 1/2 block firm silken tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
• dash soy sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Directions

1. Bring water to a slow simmer and add seaweed. Allow to simmer at least 5-6 minutes. The longer you simmer the seaweed, the less of a salty fishy flavor it will have.

2. Reduce heat to very low and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir until miso is well dissolved. Its best not to boil the miso, as this will ruin some of it's healthy properties as well as change the flavor of the soup. Makes 4 servings.