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Miso and tahini bring rich depth and mouth-watering sweet, sour, and salty tastes to the broth of this versatile vegetable soup. 

Miso is a probiotic, and tahini is a great source of calcium and healthy fats. If you haven’t explored these two winner foods yet, you’re in for a big treat.

My guess is that once you try this soup, miso and tahini with both turn into healthy food cravings you’ll be happy to have. 

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Soup variations 

What I love about this soup is how versatile it is. 

I’m using potatoes, carrots and leafy greens for the vegetables, but you can literally use anything. 

If you’ve got veggies in your fridge right now that need to be used up, throw them in this soup.

Add onions if you’re into alliums and you want a soup that really soothes and calms your mind. 

Add beetroot for bold color and liver support. 

Try sweet potato or winter squash to sweeten up the broth if that’s what you love. 

Lighten the soup up by using more greens. 

I’m thinking you could even have it with some boiled egg for protein, or possibly some organic tofu if you’re into that. 

Miso

Miso is a salty, fermented grain or bean that’s sold as a paste. When you dissolve miso in hot water, it adds rich, umami flavor. 

Miso comes in many types with variations in flavor. The three most common types are white (shiro, sweet, mellow) miso, red (aka) miso, and yellow (shinshu) miso. White is mildest and red is strongest, while yellow is in the middle. 

Miso can be made from rice, barley, soybean, chickpeas, and more. Soy-based misos are the most common type, but you can find soy-free varieties. 

Due to its salty-sour fermented taste, miso encourages hydration and water retention, which can be really helpful for dry individuals who suffer from constipation or dry skin.

Miso is also a probiotic. To preserve these qualities, avoid boiling it. Generally, you want to turn off the heat, remove some of the hot liquid into a separate bowl, dissolve the miso in this liquid, then return it to the soup. 

Tahini

Tahini is a creamy paste made from blended sesame seeds. A rich source of healthy fats, tahini is mostly sweet with a mild, bitter undertone. 

If you’re ever craving sesame seeds or tahini, it could be due to the high calcium content, and you’re actually craving calcium to nourish your bones. 

Tahini is a key ingredient in hummus, and is common in Mediterranean cuisine. Once you try tahini, you might wonder where it’s been all your life. 

Zucchini and/or leafy greens

I love zucchini in this soup, because it is cooling and super easy to digest. I especially like the texture of zucchini in soups when it’s grated. It gives the soup broth rich texture and soothing mouthfeel.

Use any type of leafy green you like in this soup. You can use just the greens, or a combination of zucchini and greens. You can also use multiple greens if you’d like.

Try green or purple cabbage, kale, collards, Swiss chard, spinach, or green onion. You could even try Asian greens, such as napa cabbage, gai lan, pea shoots, bok choy, or yau choy.

Note that green vegetables are super healthy for most people to eat on a daily basis. They help with daily detox, and assist with digestion and overall balance. 

Dosha variations

You might notice that this soup has a very low calorie count. It is also warming, and highly digestible, so I this soup will be most nourishing for Vata and Kapha types. 

VATA DOSHA

Vata types will be the most nourished by this soup due to the warming, salty, miso, the nourishing, warming sesame, and the overall ease of digestibility. 

For Vata types with a smaller appetite, this soup could be a meal on its own.

KAPHA DOSHA

Kapha types will be nourished by the warmth and overall lightness of the dish. Kapha’s can consider omitting the tahini to make the soup less rich, replacing the carrots with daikon radish, and using the leafy greens rather than the zucchini, which will bring in more cleansing qualities. A pinch of cayenne pepper may also be supportive to aid digestion.

Kapha types may pair their soup with cooked millet or buckwheat, which are lighter grains with astringent, or drying qualities. A leafy green salad could also work at lunchtime.

PITTA DOSHA

Pitta types may find this soup too heating, as both miso and tahini are heating.

To remedy the heat, include extra leafy greens, and enjoy with cooling grains, such as rice or wheat, to balance the heat and satisfy the appetite. An additional green salad will also bring coolness to the meal.