If, by chance, you don’t take me up on my bet to ward off cold and flu season by regular administrations of Superhero Miso Soup, and you do fall prey to a wintertime bug. Never fear. The ultimate sick-fighting tonic is here.

Ultimate Sick Fighting Tonic

To make one cup:
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
4 cloves raw garlic, mashed well
juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon raw honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 dropperfull (or 1/2 teaspoon) of echinacea tincture

Mash all ingredients together in a cup. Boil 1 cup of water and pour into the same cup. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Drink the liquid and eat the remaining ginger and garlic. (Add more raw honey to taste)

Potent, powerful and oddly delicious this little cocktail can be consumed on its own… OR if you really want to kick your cold goodbye, boil another 1/2 cup of ginger with 5 cups of water, simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Then add the hot ginger-water to a hot bath, sit in the bath and drink the tonic. Get out, wrap yourself in as many blankets as you have and sweat out all the last hopes of your sickness. ‘Nuff said,

The best part of it all is that it tastes great. Rich in flavour and full of texture this soup makes a deeply satisfying winter dish.

Superhero Immune Boosting Miso Soup
Makes 4 cups

one handful of dried seaweed (I used kombu, dulse and sea kelp. You don’t have to use all of them, just one would be sufficient. Kombu is the least ‘seaweed-y tasting’ of the three)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, mashed and finely chopped
2 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
any seasonal veggies, chopped (I used celery root, carrots, and rapini. In the winter it’s good to use roots and crucifers.)
dark miso paste (miso comes in many varieties, the darker it is the less sweet it is and tends to be slightly higher in probiotics)

Sauté
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 cup cabbage, shredded (green or red)
your choice, either: 2 eggs whisked, 1/2 cup precooked beans, 1/2 cup tofu, or 1/2 cup animal protein
1/2 teaspoon tamari

In a medium soup pot add 5 cups of water with dried seaweed, onion, garlic and ginger. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Add vegetables in order of longest cooking times (i.e. root vegetables and squash should be added first, allowed to cook in for a few minutes, then vine vegetables (peppers, nightshades), last added are leafy vegetables which should be cooked just for a few minutes to preserve their texture and bright color). Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl add a few tablespoons of hot soup broth to the miso and stir to dissolve. Portion the miso between bowls and add soup on top. (Miso is a traditional food of fermented soy and grain. It’s incredible healthy and contains living enzymes and probiotics that won’t survive if they are cooked or heated above certain temperatures or for too long. For this reason you never want to actually cook it into what you’re making. Just add warm liquid to dissolve the paste and then add it to your dish.)

Adding a sauté brings a variety of texture and added flavour to the soup.

Heat a sauté pan and add oil or butter. Add cabbage and stir so that it’s completely coated with oil. Sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the cabbage has softened sufficiently. Add protein and sauté until it’s cooked to your liking. Mix into soup and serve immediately.