White Bean Miso Soup with Broccoli Recipe!

This is a very easy recipe I made up based on a few ingredients.  First, white beans (navy beans) which are so nutritious.  Second, mellow white miso (which I had been craving and picked up the other day when I went to Whole Foods.) And,third, broccoli (which I also got at Whole Foods.)  I had been craving broccoli and miso for a few days, but didn't have a chance to make this soup until today.

 

First off, I want to say that I like to take complicated recipes and simplify them.  Sometimes this makes them healthier and it almost always makes them cheaper.  It also makes them much easier for the chef!  This recipe is very healthy, very inexpensive, and very easy. 

 

White Bean Miso Soup with Broccoli
 

1 pound of dry navy beans soaked overnight.  Rinse the soaked beans, cover with water, boil, reduce and cook about 1 hour until they are done.  Don't add salt.  Reserve the bean broth when you strain your cooked beans.  I had about 2 cups reserved bean broth.  This is where all the nutrients are so it's good to use it in your soup.  Since you're adding miso, you don't need the extra sodium from the salt.  It's best if you use pure, filtered water to cook your beans.  You can use organic beans if you want.  I usually use Goya beans (they are about $1.00 a pound) and I rinse them and once they boil, if there are any impurities that come up to the surface of the water (this is called scum) skim it off since you don't want your family ingesting toxins!
 

So after you've dealt with your beans  . . .

 

chop up 1-2 onions and sautee them in your soup pot in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder for about 10 minutes.

 

Dissolve 1 cup of mellow white miso in your reserved 2 cups of bean broth.

 

You don't ever want to boil miso, so keep that in mind!

 

Add the miso/broth mixture to the onion mixture and add an additional 3-4 cups of water.  Add the beans and warm over medium heat stirring with a wire whisk to dissolve any undissolved miso.  Once the soup is uniform and tastes good to you, add 2 cups of organic broccoli florets.

 

Cover, and cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes.  Keep and eye on the soup so that it doesn't boil.

 

That's it!  Serve and enjoy!