When the weather is storming outside, (and I say this knowing that what we are experiencing here in Northern California is relative to other parts of the country), there is nothing that satisfies quite like a bowl of piping hot soup.

While I am no lover of winter, I do love eating soup and salad for dinner, and I do that mostly in the winter.

A few months ago, we had a glut of broccoli from our CSA, and quite a lot of carrots, too. I found a recipe for a broccoli miso soup on someone’s web site, and tweaked it considerably. I’ve now made this soup at least a dozen times, for clients, and for us. Our CSA ran it in its newsletter too, so I thought I’d post it here for anyone in need of a new soup recipe.

While absolutely delicious, I will say that in order for the broccoli to be pureed, it has to be quite soft, and with the tamari and miso, rather than a beautiful vibrant green, this soup is a rather bland-looking brown. Ah well. At least it makes up for it in taste.

Recipe follows the jump.

Broccoli Carrot Miso Soup

3 Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
a 3-inch piece of ginger, finely minced
3 carrots, sliced
about 6 cups of broccoli, chopped into flowerettes and the stems sliced
4 to 6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup white miso paste
3 Tbs tamari
sea salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a soup pot. When shimmering, add onions and saute until translucent. Then add garlic and ginger, and saute another few minutes. Then add carrots, broccoli and stir a few minutes. Add vegetable stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Cover the pot and allow to simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Use an immersion blender to blend the vegetables (or you can do this in a blender, but then you must wait for the soup to cool. Do NOT try and puree hot soup). Heat another cup broth in a separate pot, and when hot, add the miso paste. Stir until combined, and then add to the soup. Season with tamari, and then salt and pepper to taste.