Rain, snow, or shine,

Winter is soup time!

It’s been a rainy winter in California, and this week was no different.  I remember having a winter or two like this as a child, where there were just days of endless rain and rain puddles to play in, but I certainly haven’t seen a winter like this in California in at least ten years.

My mother only really cooks in the winter, and pretty much only cooks soups.  One of my favorite soups growing up was broccoli soup, which was a very simple broccoli onion chicken broth puree.

I was recently looking in the fridge and cabinet on a rainy day, in the hopes that I could find some ingredients for a healthy tasty dinner, without having to go to the grocery store.  Torrential rain for some reason makes a trip to the grocery store seem slightly less appealing.  Although I did not have quite enough broccoli to make my mom’s famous broccoli soup, I did have carrots.  I didn’t, however, have enough carrots to make carrot soup, so I instead made broccoli carrot soup, adding a touch of miso for that je ne sais quois (umami) flavor.

This has become a staple in the past few months as it’s a healthy and filling meal that can be thrown together last minute in less than an hour after an exhausting day at work.

 

Carrot Broccoli Miso Soup

Ingredients:

1 large vidalia onion (sliced)

1 tbs salt

2 large carrots (chopped)

2 bunches broccoli (chopped)

4 cups chicken stock (or if you’re in a pinch 4 cups water and half a bouillon cube, but homemade chicken stock is best)

1 tbs. Genmai miso (or other red miso)

1/2 cup full fat greek yogurt

fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Prepare all of your vegetables.

Cook onions and salt in a large pot over medium heat.

Once onions are soft and translucent, add carrots.  Cook for approximately 10 minutes.

Add stock, cover, and bring to a boil.

Cook at a simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add miso and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until broth is fragrant and flavorful.

Turn off heat and puree soup in a blender or food processor.

Mix in yogurt.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper.