· Pimped Miso Soup

* Si vous préfèrez une version française, par ici!

Hum. It seems as if I can't get away from sea creatures again (and again) this month for the food column... Oh well, live with it. lol! ;)

This is SUCH a quick and easy recipe idea, believe me. I've literally made this in 10 minutes (besides pictures). Miso (fermented soybean paste) is very versatile, for soups, but also for marinades and even salad dressings. The classic soup, as you might know, is composed of just water, miso, wakame (seaweeds) and tofu.

Delicious as is, but once in a while I like to make a pimped (aka "deluxe") version. This is it! :)

Bring water to heat in a pot, and once hot, dissolve your miso in it. You can put in some soya sauce too, if you would like it saltier. Then, add your cubed shrimps and wakame, since they both need to cook a little. Cut a couple of dices of tomatoes and add (this will add some zing! to the overall taste).

Make a little puree out of your fresh ginger (as per your taste), with a fine grate. I find this method to be a more tasteful result in a soup than if it's minced with a knife. Add a bit of freshly squeezed lime juice (I used a quarter of a lime for one person portion, but go by your preference).

Scoop out your sweet peas from their shell (and if you're like me, try not to eat them as is meanwhile... lol), and cut your avocado in cubes. Yep, avocado. Agreed, it sounds like a weird ingredient in a soup, but try it! You might just agree with me that it's great! :)

These two last ingredients are to be added at the end only, when your soup is ready, since they do not need to cook, they just need warming up. There you go! Add a couple of cilantro leaves to top it off once served!

Obviously, feel free to leave out some things or replace if you feel like it. Shrimp could be tofu or scallops (or even salmon?) instead, wakame could be ramen noodles, sweet peas could be thinly sliced mushrooms... Go creative (or just empty that fridge of left over veggies)! :) Enjoy!