miso soup breakfast

After the new year I felt inspired to switch up my breakfast. I'd been on a great spiced, super-seed oatmeal kick, but I was looking to up my green game and was seeking a place for live food probiotics. Enter miso breakfast.

Miso, which many of us know solely from sushi restaurants, can be a great source of probiotics. It is most often made from a combination of soybeans, cultured grain, and sea salt by double fermentation process. High quality, unpasteurized miso is a living fermented food. It contains a wide range of natural digestive enzymes, Lactobacillus, and other probiotic microorganisms, which aid in the digestion and assimilation of all foods. Miso functions as a catalyst for digestion, which we know Ayurvedically is the root wellness.

I use this soup as a warming, nourishing vehicle for bitter greens and probiotics. My miso breakfast looks different each day, but what follows are some of my favorite components.

Ingredients

• miso - I like South River as a unpasteurized brand, unpasteurized miso will be in the refrigerated ferments section of your health food store.

• organic vegetable broth - helps vata stay hydrated

• green onions - warming for the winter season

• kale - great for Pitta/Kapha, supports blood

• basmati rice - grounding and nourishing to ojas

• fresh parsley - vitamins, ama clearing, helps digestion

• sesame seeds - great for bones and muscle with calcium, magnesium and iron

Method:

You don't want to cook your miso, as you'll kill the probiotics. I warm the broth, green onion, and pre-cooked rice on the stove. Once warm, I add that mixture to a bowl with 1 tsp miso (stir it in), and a handful of sautéed kale that I keep on hand. I add some fresh-chopped parsley, and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and I'm ready for my day!

Give this nourishing breakfast a try (obviously it makes a great snack, lunch, or dinner as well!), and let me know what you think in the comments below.