Sweet & Sour Thai Soup

This soup is a quick and tasty fix that can be made under twenty minutes with whatever veggies you have on hand. The only special ingredient that it needs is red miso paste.
Miso is a traditional Japanese food usually used in soups. Its an enzyme rich probiotic paste made by fermenting grains such as soybean mixed in with some barley or rice. There are typically three most common kinds of Miso - white, yellow and red. The darker the color of the miso the stronger it will taste and the longer it has been fermented. Miso is a great source of protein along with iron calcium and Vitamin B.

I made this soup when I was fighting off a nasty cold this past week - apart from helping me with the cold, I loved its different flavors - hot, sweet, savory

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped veggies of choice (I used - onions, zucchini, carrots, purple cabbage, mushrooms)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 tablespoon red miso* (This is the brand I use)
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 garlic - crushed/diced
• 1/2 stalk of Lemon grass (optional)
• 1 tsp ginger - grated
• Chilli suce (optional)
• salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:

1. Heat sesame oil in a pan and add the onions - let them saute them for a minute.
2. Add the ginger and garlic and follow it with the rest of the vegetables (all chopped into bite sized pieces) and let them cook for a bit - about 5 minutes
3. Add lemon grass stalk (if using) then add 2-3 cups of water and let it boil till your veggies are cooked to your liking.
4. Add salt, lime juice, agave and red miso paste - adjust the seasoning to your taste. I like mine a bit bold so I added a little bit more of lime juice and agave. You can also add Sriracha or any other chilli paste if you want it to be spicy. 

*NOTE: Do not allow miso to boil - just add some hot water to make a thin paste and add it in the end once your soup is ready.

Easy Quick Spinach Soup

This is one of those soups that's easy peasy to make and full of nutrition plus its yummy.

Spinach has good levels of iron, but not quite as much as originally believed. It is important to note that there are two forms of dietary iron: 'haem' iron and 'non haem' iron. Haem iron is found in animal products and is the most efficiently absorbed form of iron. Non haem iron is found in plant foods (such as spinach) and is a little harder for the body to absorb in comparison. Iron plays a central role in the function of red blood cells which help in transporting oxygen around the body, in energy production and DNA synthesis. 
Spinach is also an excellent source of vitamin K (helps in blood clotting), vitamin A (beta carotene), vitamin C and folic acid as well as being a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach.

Cooked v/s Raw Spinach: There is a big debate surrounding that spinach should never be eaten raw because it contains high levels of oxalic acid, which in excess can inhibit the absorption of other important nutrients such as calcium can lead to kidney stones. Lightly cooking spinach is thought to reduce the oxalic acid content. The key word here is excess which means different things to different people. For example, for a person taking anti coagulants or with history ff kidney stones, eating raw spinach everyday might not be recommended. But for a normal healthy person there is absolutely no need to completely ban raw spinach from your diet.  

I throw spinach in my dals especially dhuli mung and masoor and add it regularly to my scrambled eggs and salads.

Now the Recipe

• Take little bit of olive oil and sauté lightly 1-2 cloves of finely chopped or grated garlic.
• Then add spinach and little bit of water and give it one whistle in a cooker for the garlic flavor to come out.
• Open the cooker, let it cool a little and puree the mixture
• Put this in a pan and add 1/4th cup milk and little water (1/4th cup), lemon, salt and pepper and give it one nice boil.
• You can top it off with sunflower seeds.