With the weather taking a decidedly autumnal turn I've been preparing heating up soups for my lunch. But I fancied having a go at making some of my own.

I've shared some recipes from Bessie's Veggie Food before (here/here, in fact the mexican lasagne has just gone on my meal plan for next week). On a recent visit to the site, I found a recipe for Miso Soup.

As with any soup, I like to enjoy it with a crusty roll, or a cheese sandwich, to dunk.

Ingredients
4 cups low salt vegetable stock (1 litre)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
1 tbsp thinly sliced red chilli pepper (optional)
3 tbsp miso paste
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
a handful of cubed tofu (optional)
another 2 handfuls of chopped veg. e.g. carrots, asparagus or broccoli spears


Instructions
Place the vegetable stock, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper, and spring onion in a medium pot over high heat. Bring to the boil, uncovered, then reduce to a simmer.

Put the miso paste into a small bowl, and add a little of the stock to it. Use a fork to mash the paste into the stock, then add to the soup pot. Do not allow the broth to return to a boil!

Add the tofu (if using) and veg to the pot. Allow them to heat through for a few minutes so the vegetables cook just slightly.


Verdict? 
Nice! Every bit as good as the one I normally buy (Wakame Miso Soup). Granted this takes longer than squeezing the paste out of a packet and adding boiling water, but it's nice to be able to add veg to your liking.

What would I do differently?
I'd use red chilli pepper. Tesco substituted mine for Mirabella peppers, which had a nice flavour but no heat.

I'd leave out the broccoli, I added this just to finish it off but actually I much prefer the kale (or spring greens) and would've liked more of it. Thinly sliced leeks would be nice too.

I wouldn't use these Kallo stock cubes again. These ones took so long to dissolve, much longer than any I've used before.


What about the ginger?
I ordered fresh root ginger and had no idea how much to buy. I ended up with about four times as much as I needed (a common problem when shopping online). I Googled to see if I could use ground ginger instead only to discover that 'the two are not really interchangeable.'


All in all it was worth the extra effort and I'll be making this again - and not just because I want to use up all of that ginger!

As for Bessie's Veggie Food, I have every intention of trying the cherry choc chip ice cream recipe, but I might wait until cherries are in season again.

I also really like the sound of this vegan creamy white bean soup, so this will be my next recipe to try. I've already gathered together the ingredients.

Any good soup recipes you can recommend?

(Day 8 of blogging everyday for 40 days)