This is like eating from a bowl of pure nourishment. Perfect for an after-yoga or after-workout dinner or lunch. Springtime is a nice time of year for this soup. It’s light, but so full of healthy stuff. It makes me feel like I’m replenishing my body with protein, nutrients and secret things that it needs that I don’t fully understand. A little bowl of zen.

The soup has a nice umami thing going on that I love. It has a satisfying earthiness from the mushrooms and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos that I find very grounding.

As a bonus, it’s really easy to throw together taking about a half an hour to make. My recipe calls for a few special ingredients that you should be able to find at Whole Foods or an Asian market. You may even find most of it at your local grocery store. I sometimes have trouble finding miso paste and tend to get that at an Asian market. I used red miso in this recipe, but white/yellow would be fine. The soba noodles that I used were fully cooked, but you could use dried soba and cook it ahead of time.

Zen Soba Seaweed Miso Soup

Serves 4

1/4 sweet onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1 tsp coconut oil

4 cups water

1/2 block firm tofu, cubed

1 package prepared soba noodles

1/4 cup wakame (dried seaweed)

1/2 cup shelled edamame (if frozen, no need to thaw)

2 Tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Amino or to taste

1 Tbsp red miso paste or to taste

Heat soup pot over medium heat and add coconut oil. Saute onions, carrots and mushrooms until soft. Add water, tofu, soba noodles, seaweed, edamame and Bragg’s. Let come to a light boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Mix miso in a small bowl with about 2 or 3 tablespoons of the warm broth to dissolve. Take soup off heat and add miso mixture. Stir to blend. Taste and add more Bragg’s or miso if desired. Serve in a calm, soothing environment and contemplate how wonderful life is.