Miso Soup

I came across this delightful recipe when I was searching for miso soup with a bit more substance. I had a cold and wanted to get better VERY soon and this did the trick. It has garlic and ginger which are great for you when you have a cold (and also great for your taste buds). We add mushrooms and bok choy which give you lots of vitamins. Lastly, it has some very flavorful and not-at-all-dry chicken thighs. So, let's get this going!!

Ingredients
-2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil (you can find this in the International aisle of your supermarket)

-1 bunch of scallions, the whites and greens separated

-4 garlic cloves minced
-1 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
-4 cups of water
-3 tablespoons of white miso (I got this at my Whole Foods in the refrigerated part of the produce section)

-1 and 1/2 tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
-1 and 1/4 pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Cut into bite-sized pieces
-8 cups of bok choy, washed VERY well and chopped

-4 ounces of dried Chinese noodles broken in half. You can also use a ramen packet (without the seasoning)
-4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms, or any mushrooms that you like, stemmed and sliced

Directions
-Heat 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

-Add the scallion whites, garlic and ginger. Cook them until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the 4 cups of water, miso, soy sauce and the last tablespoon of sesame seed oil. Bring it to a boil.

-Add the chicken, bok choy, noodles and mushrooms.

-Cover and return to a boil. When it comes up to a boil, uncover, reduce heat to medium and cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through. It should take 3-5 minutes. Make sure you stir well, including scraping the bottom of the pot because you don't want the noodles to stick. If you need to add more water, go ahead.

-Serve your soup topped with the scallion greens. Why do we add the greens at the end? Because they're a little more tender than the whites so they can't stand up to being cooked for too long. That's why they're better as a topping.

YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!! I want to eat this NOW.

Serving Size: 4 servings. About 2 cups per person.
Nutritional Info: 383 calories, 16g fat (3g saturated, 6g monounsaturated), 76mg cholesterol, 33g carbs, 0g added sugar, 28g protein, 7g fiber, 729mg sodium, 842mg potassium