Roasted-Garlic Burdock Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 2 heads garlic, roasted (see Cook’s note)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup burdock root, well-scrubbed (or peeled) and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• Bok choy (2 small or 1 large), cleaned well and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or mirin
• 1 tablespoon miso
• Soy sauce to taste

PREPARATION

1. Blend 2 cups broth with the roasted garlic using a hand (immersion) blender or regular blender/food processor until it has a creamy consistency.
2. In a large soup pot, heat the sesame oil, and sauté the burdock root, broccoli, and bok choy for about 3 minutes.
3. Add the rice vinegar or mirin to the soup pot, then stir in the roasted garlic broth, the remaining 2 cups of broth, the miso, and soy sauce.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until veggies are tender. Serve hot.

Serves 3–4 as a main dish. Prep time, 8 minutes; cook time, 45 minutes (including roasting garlic).

Cook’s note: To roast garlic, preheat oven to 400 °F. Peel away the dry, loose outer layers of skin on the garlic heads. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4 to a 1/2-inch off the top of each head, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the heads in aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, and use your fingers to make sure exposed cloves are well coated. Wrap heads with foil and bake for 30–35 minutes or until cloves feel soft when pressed between your fingers. Let cool, and squeeze cloves out of their skins. (Garlic may be roasted in advance for this recipe and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge.)