Quick and Healthy Veggie-Packed Lunch

If you’re lucky enough to be at home at lunch time, you can make a healthy lunch in less than 10 minutes. Miso soup is ready in the time it takes to boil water, and you can add almost anything to it, making it perfect for using up leftovers.

            Start with the recipe below as a guideline. I like to use a little less miso than most recipes call for, since it’s so salty and I’m trying to do better with my salt-tooth. Most recipes say 1 tablespoon miso for 1cup of water, but let your taste and your blood pressure guide you.

            Other healthful ingredients you can add to the soup include leftover diced chicken breast, small shrimp (either cooked or raw; they’ll cook in a couple minutes), or cubes of tofu. The protein will make the soup more filling. And you can use cooked whole wheat pasta or soba noodles instead of the rice. Use whatever veggies you have on hand: quick-cooking vegetables such as small broccoli florets, shredded carrot, thinly sliced summer squash, bell peppers, or scallions, or fresh bean sprouts. If you like sesame, add a tiny drizzle of dark sesame oil to the finished soup.

           

            Another great way to have miso soup is to have just the broth for an afternoon snack. Boil water, remove from the heat, and whisk in the miso until smooth. Pour it into a mug and drink it like tea. When I’m craving something sweet that I know I shouldn’t have, like a chocolate-dipped macaroon from Lety’s Bakery (conveniently located just steps from my front door), if I have something salty, it stops the sugar craving. Give it a try.

When you’ve no time for lunch, yet want something really healthy and really quick, dig around in the refrigerator, see what you’ve got, and turn it into miso soup. I’d love to hear what you add to yours.

            Oh, and brown rice, cooked perfectly. No one does it better than Alton Brown.

Miso Soup with Spinach and Rice

Makes 2 servings

3 cups water

2 cups chopped fresh spinach or baby spinach

1 cup cooked brown rice

2 tablespoons white miso

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the water into a small bowl.

Add the spinach and rice to the saucepan and cook just until the spinach is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the miso to the water in the bowl and whisk until smooth. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the miso mixture. Serve at once.

Each serving: 30 g carbohydrate, 148 calories, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 5 g protein, 509 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 2; Exchanges: 2 starch