Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Miso and I

School began this week, and I found myself giddily hurrying home to cook (*sigh*, I should be hurrying home to start reading for class the following week, but somehow cooking my own meals has become pretty important to me as well).

Tuesday I made a hearty bowl of Miso Soup (adapted very loosely from the Miso and Adzuki Beans recipe in Vegetarian Times Healthy stuff issue). Instead of adzuki beans, I used a small portion of black beans from a pot I had cooked the week before. Also, I used fresh shitake mushrooms insted of dried, added my own veg stock instead of water, added carrots and double the green onions and toned down the dosage of miso.



I will admit, the first time I made a miso soup last February, I HATED THE CRAP OUT OF IT. I promptly dumped out the bowl of miso soup in the sink and swore it off, though pining for the feeling that I kept reading about from others. WTF?

Miso is said to be healing and good for you, but it definitely has a flavor only a mother would love, if you know what I mean. I bought some miso products from South River Co. in the hopes of a second chance encounter, and it worked out pretty well for all parties involved (the miso and I).



This was way yummy along with a wheat roll and homemade pickles on the side (sliced cucumbers added to leftover pickle brine...works really well!)

And then on Thursday, while The Hubs was in his litho class, I made some polenta cakes topped with a wonderful black bean and corn mixture.



The polenta was just one of those convenient tubes, cut into circles and pan fried. The beans mixture was 1 can of black beans (rinsed), 1 cup of frozen corn, mixed together in a small sauce pan. Then I added 3 TBS of homemade pasta sauce that I had in the fridge and some torn cilantro, smoked paprika, garlic powder and coriander. SUPER YUM.

And nothing beats making a meal to the Monsters of Folk on Austin City Limits that I had dvr'd :)

Jes

1 comment:

  1. Great job conquering your fear of miso, Jes! Don't know if I would have gone near the stuff myself excepting I am addicted to the miso soups from Japanese restaurants (still haven't quite nailed it yet at home...need to try some different misos, I think). I also use it by the tablespoon in vegan veggie burgers (to add salt, flavor and nutrients) and in "cheezy" sauces. Try it! Glad to have found your blog. Check mine out if you like: http://veganfazool.blogspot.com

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