This is a great way to use leftover cooked brown rice. My husband grew up macrobiotic, and miso soup is one of his favorite healthy breakfasts. This is the best soup for colds, too. Miso has healing properties if it is not boiled.

15 min. Serves 2 tags: gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, whole food plant-based, macrobiotic, oil-free Ingredients

• 1-2 cups cooked brown rice (short grain is my favorite)
• 3 cups of water
• ½ onion coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp dried seaweed that is good in soup (alaria, kelp, shredded nori, etc)
• 3 dried shitake mushrooms
• 1 coarsely chopped carrot
• ½ tsp umeboshi paste (1 tsp of rice vinegar works too)
• 1 ½ Tbsp red or brown miso
• baby kale sprigs or chopped green onions for color (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small pot (at least 1.5 quarts), combine the rice and water. I like to use the pot I cooked the rice in because it helps cleans the pot. Heat on a medium flame
2. As the water comes close to boiling, add the onion, ginger, and sea vegetables
3. Break the dry shitake mushrooms up into smaller pieces and drop them into the pot
4. After 5 min, ladle ½ cup of just broth from the pot and set aside
5. Add the carrot to the soup pot
6. In the broth you set aside, mix the miso and umeboshi until it dissolves
7. After 3 min, turn the heat off and add the miso broth to the pot of soup
8. Add baby kale or another fresh and bright green vegetable to each bowl of soup just before serving

I have baby kale growing in my partially-shaded kitchen garden all year long. It adds so much vitality and color to brown dishes like this. I let kale seed itself and just keep growing. Mature kale should be cooked in order to digest it. Baby kale is more delicate.