Roasted Garlic, Miso & Greens Soup

This will be the new 'Chicken Soup' in terms of healing and building the immune system when you are feeling under the weather. The real trick is to keep from getting sick in the first place...adding this to your diet may be good preventative medicine. Garlic, miso and greens are all super foods to help maintain and restore your body's immune system. Lemon and red pepper flakes also aid in healing in their own way. This is a very simple soup with wonderful flavors coming from the few ingredients this recipe calls for. It doesn't need much making this an even better go to soup when feeling under the weather or just because you simply love roasted garlic. You could also add some cubed organic tofu for added protein. I really enjoyed this soup and hope you find it as good as I did.

Do not be turned off by the amount of garlic listed. Roasting garlic in the oven dramatically mellows out the intense garlicky flavor leaving behind a very pleasant mellow flavor. It will become mild, sweet, nutty, almost caramel like. It will squeeze out of the skins like butter. No peeling necessary. You can use less garlic if you are uncomfortable with this amount. Also, to lessen energy use I would suggest roasting garlic along with other vegetables to be used in another dish or alongside this one. Here's a great visual tutorial from Oh She Glows on how to roast garlic.

Roasted Garlic, Miso & Greens Soup

Ingredients

• 2 heads of garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 cups water or vegetable broth (I used water)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons white miso, to taste
• 4 cups greens of choice, chopped (I used tuscan kale)
• pinch of red pepper flakes, garnish
• squeeze of lemon, optional
• himalayan salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Remove most outer layer of skin from bulbs of garlic, leaving the most inner layer so they will stay together. Cut off the tops of the garlic bulbs. Place bulbs cut side up on a piece of tin foil large enough to fold over and close tight at the top when done. Drizzle one tablespoon olive oil over each bulb. Close the tin foil by folding up the edges and squeezing them together at the top and fold over, or bring up the sides and fold over while pinching and folding the ends. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. 

In large pot, squeeze garlic bulbs into the pan and mush it a bit with the back of a wooden spoon. Add liquids, turn heat to medium. Add your miso and stir to incorporate the paste. Once broth has warmed for about 20 minutes, add in greens and let wilt. Serve with a slice of lemon and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I topped mine with a few colorful purple micro greens. Serves six.

Notes: 

~ If using tofu, add in after adding the miso paste. Use soft or firm tofu that has been pressed to remove excess moisture. To press you can either use your palms by using paper towels in between to soak up the moisture. Or place the tofu under a somewhat heavy book with paper towels on each side of the tofu for 10 minutes or so.

~If staying away from soy, try using brown rice or chickpea miso.

~ Adding wakame (sea weed) as your green would also add great nutrition. Seaweed is full of essential minerals and vitamins that the body needs. You can find wakame dehydrated so it will last in the pantry a long time. Simply crumble some in your soup, wait a few minutes and it will add lots of valuable trace minerals. Here is a site that offers a bit of information and many recipes using wakame: Wakame: Health & Healing from the Sea

Great for the mind, body and soul...Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from 'Ten Mother's Garlic & Spinach Soup' from Care2.com