miso soup

Starting off a sushi dinner with a steamy bowl of miso soup is a ritual I can't seem to break. The soft tofu and seaweed flavored with yummy miso makes for a comforting starter, and I'm benefiting my health to boot. While the soup is a standard on Japanese menus, there are plenty more uses for miso and a list of reasons to pick some up at the store.

Miso's high sodium content makes it an ideal salt substitute in meals. The flavor enhancer is made by fermenting soybeans with a B12-synthesizing bacteria, making it a good source of the vitamin, and one tablespoon of miso provides two grams of protein and has just 25 calories. The zinc and copper found in miso support the immune system and energy production.

You can find miso paste at many supermarkets, so pick some up and start including it in your recipes. Try using it to flavor soups, salad dressings, sauces, stir-fries, and marinades. Have you experimented with miso in your cooking?

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Turns out that a bowl of delicious miso soup may burn belly fat. Since this is great news and since it's still National Soup Month, I thought I'd pass on this great little recipe. You could always make miso soup with an instant packet (just add water), but a homemade version is going to be a little heartier and taste a lot better. Unfortunately you will need to find miso paste (try Whole Foods or some place like that), but if you can track it down, it'll be worth it. To check out a recipe for vegetable miso soup, read more

It is National Soup Month, so says my friend YumSugar. So I thought I would tell you about a little research done on miso soup recently.

Japanese researchers found that brown seaweed, used to make miso, "stimulates a protein that causes fat oxidation and conversion of energy to heat." Translated into plain English, it helps burn fat. Belly fat to be even more specific. Well, belly fat of mice to be even more specific.

Now, I need to remind you that the findings are preliminary and no testing has been done on humans. I for one, however, will be using this as an excuse to go out for sushi and order miso soup to kick off the meal.