Saturday, December 06, 2008

simple is delicious

Daiei had a great sale the other day. Almost all their veggies were 99 yen each! Sweet potatoes, eringi mushrooms, nasubi (eggplant), green beans...99 yen a package (about US$.99). Oh and gobo (burdock root) too. (There was more things on sale, but these were the veggies I bought.)

One of the benefits of having a hot, non-typhoon summer is that the veggies/fruit are plentiful...I'm so thankful that they are passing the lower prices down to the consumer, and not trying to be greedy to make a buck.

Friday was raining all day, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. The guys from the window shop came to fix the window in the afternoon. Within 30 minutes (or less) they had changed the glass...zip...zap with their power tools...speedy! (Thank you!)

As it got closer to dinner time, I didn't feel much like cooking, but wanted something comforting, so I did something simple.

Did you know I only have one big pot? Everytime I cook something, I have to think of what order things need to be done. For example, if I make pasta, I need to boil the pasta before making the sauce, or I won't have a pot to boil the pasta in if I made the sauce first. Maybe a little troublesome, but I don't really have all that much space for a lot of pots or pans.

Anyway, I steamed the green beans first. Then I whittled some gobo, sliced a nasubi, cut up eringi and chopped some sweet potato. Threw everything except the green beans into the pot with some water, brought it to a boil and when everything was soft, I added several teaspoons of miso (soy bean paste).

The miso that I use has dashi (stock) blended in with it. Saves a step of having to make your own dashi before making miso soup.

Since I still had some green onion on the veranda, I cut some up to garnish.

This soup really hit the spot!

I also made a salad with the green beans and some leftover shredded carrots, heated up some leftover rice and topped it with a big umeboshi (pickled plum).

Simple is delicious.

UPDATE: I've sent this soup to join Deb's Souper Sundays. Check out her blog on Sunday for the full round-up.

13 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! Love all the great fresh veggies! YUM!

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  2. Simple is best and your soup looks wonderful! I love all the veggies and the miso broth--yum! Let me know if you want me to include it for Souper sunday this week. ;-) Have a great weekend!

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  3. My husband and I are in Japan until Monday. I love your blog. We are going to try and see the Imperial Palace today. Trying to figure out what trains to take. Had a dish the other night. i will have to get back to you on this. Wondering if you can help me out on it, when I go home to the US I want to make it. We are staying in Gotanda. Thanks, Take Care.

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  4. What a healthy dinner!

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  5. Thanks JennDZ, Lori!

    Thanks Deb, I'll email you about Souper Sundays :)

    Email me a photo of the dish, Erinn, I'll see if I can help you.

    Take care everyone.
    Kat

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  6. delicious!! Simple is always the best!! Will you be thinking about getting another pot soon? It will definitely be a big help.

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  7. I know it would help Phoebe, I don't have space to store another pot :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  8. I think a lot of people end up cluttering your kitchens with a lot of gadgets they'll never use. I appreciate the fact that you only have one big pot!

    Your soup looks and sounds delicious. After the excess of Thanksgiving, I've been craving simple foods, too. I can make a whole meal out of hummus, pita and various raw veggies. Yummy!

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  9. ooh hummus sounds so good, Jenster :) simple is delicious!

    Take care.
    Kat

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  10. Oh yum! K, I'm packing my bags right now so I can come sit in your kitchen and eat some soup. Mmmm...

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  11. Okay, I'll be waiting for you, Fuji Mama :)

    Take care.
    Kat

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  12. You're killing me with all these references to 99 yen veggies at Daiei... I miss Daiei SO MUCH... even its new incarnation as Don Quijote on Oahu... *waaah*

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