Good Morning From Maine!

Couple of (gifts)  – First watch the following sent by son Nathaniel – guaranteed mood enhancer!

[Mood Enhancer]

Second, while what you’ve read here to date indicates otherwise, at home we eat a modified macrobiotic diet, starting almost every day with miso soup.  It’s supposed to prepare one’s system to benefit from the nutrients of the rest of the meal.  The recipe below is a short-cut method, but if ease will get you to try it, I advocate a short cut!  The secret ingredient is bonito stock.  When making a large batch I steep a “tea” bag of bonito flakes in a big pot of water, but the prepared soup stock is an easy alternative.

Just before Gus was diagnosed with Diabetes and Celiac Disease, the young son of a close friend was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.  Part of his treatment plan was massage therapy, meditation therapy, and a strict macrobiotic diet.  About 6 months after surgery they planned a trip to Maine.  If Macrobiotics was helping to keep this guy going, I was determined to offer (it.)  Two great resources: The Kushi Institute in Becket, Massachusetts and Five Seasons Cooking School in Portland Maine offer classes.

Breakfast Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups water

1 teaspoon dried seaweed – I like Hiziki or Wakeme flakes.

½ teaspoon Hondashi Bonito Soup Stock – you’ll find this at a local Asian market.

½ cup julienned carrots

¼ cup thinly sliced celery

¼ cup chard sliced horizontally into ¼ inch ribbons

¼ cup cubed organic tofu (I prefer extra firm.)

1 scant Tablespoon miso paste

1/8 cup slivered fresh scallions

INGREDIENTS:

1. Fill a small pot with the water and place over medium heat.
2. Add the seaweed and soup stock.
3. Keep working, adding the carrots, celery, and tofu. By this time the water should be steaming.  Just when it boils, turn off the heat.
4. Put the miso paste into a small heat-resistant bowl and carefully dip the bowl into soup, picking up a little stock.  Blend the miso and water to make a sauce thin sauce and stir back into the soup.
5. Let the soup rest for 1-2 minutes as the miso “blooms.” Serve immediately topped with the fresh scallions.

If you need to reheat the soup, take care not to boil it, as extreme heat inhibits the healthful properties of the miso.  Also, mix up the vegetables going in the mushroom direction or spring vegetable direction, depending on the season and what you prefer.

The ingredients are supposed to blend the natural elements: air, fire, earth, and water. Fresh scallions are the “air”, but I don’t like eating raw onions for breakfast so skip them unless it’s miso soup before lunch or dinner. (Told you it was a modified macrobiotic diet. That also explains away the yogurt, raspberries, and cappuccino I had after this morning’s soup! Peter stuck to the macro-map, chasing his with steamed rice drizzled with sesame oil and a cup of Black Twig tea.)

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