Purple Asparagus, Small Red Potatoes and Beech Mushrooms with Rich Miso Broth

Just back two weeks in New York and Chicago and I’m so inspired. We had a full week of art exhibitions, movies, music, great food and seeing friends. I find recipe inspiration everywhere, especially at art museums and restaurants with delicious food. In Chicago, we went to our favorite restaurant Althea four times. Sadly though, we missed their monochrome Fuschia dinner. Four colorful courses with drink pairings.

It’s fun to try new restaurants too! We had the most delicious vegan ramen at Tonchin in New York. It was so delicious that we ate there three times. This recipe is inspired by those flavors. The question is how to create a rich flavorful vegan broth without simmering a stockpot of vegetables for hours? I like to oven roast vegetables then purée them with vegetable broth. This technique creates a rich broth in less than 1 hour. A quicker dinner prep with give you move time to reflect on other creative projects!

Purple Asparagus, Small Red Potatoes and Beech Mushrooms with Rich Miso Broth

Preheat the oven to 400˚

Line a 12” x 18” rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, add the shallots, parsnips, carrot, garlic, and tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until brown and caramelized.

Make the dashi – In a glass measuring cup add the kombu and  dried mushrooms. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature then place in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and remove the Kombu. Discard the kombu. Set aside.

Place the oven-roasted vegetables in a high-speed blender. Add the dashi and porcini mushrooms, the miso, sake, soy milk, lemon juice, and the broth. Purée until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a large saucepan. Return to the stove and keep the broth warm.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚

Roast the other vegetables – Line a 12” x 18” rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the  potatoes in a single layer and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 10 minutes. Add the asparagus to the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes. Finally, add the white beech mushrooms and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.

To serve, divide the vegetables evenly between four large flat soup bowls. Add 1¼ cup of broth to the bowl. Garnish with the chopped tarragon leaves.

Note – If you want a more hearty dinner, add cooked soba noodles to the soup.

serves 4

RICH MISO BROTH

  • 2 large shallots, peeled, about 1 cup
  • 1 large parsnip, peeled, cut into chunks
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled, cut into chunks
  • 7 cloves garlic, peeled 
  • 2 Kumato tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup dashi (recipe follows)
  • 6 tsp white miso
  • ¼ cup sake
  • ¼ cup of soy milk
  • 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 cups vegetable broth

DASHI

  • 1 cup of water
  • one 2” x 1” piece of kombu
  • 4 pieces of dried porcini mushrooms

OTHER VEGETABLES

  • 8 red potatoes, cut  into 1/4” slices
  • 1 large bunch of purple asparagus, washed and cut into 1” pieces
  • 1 package white beech mushrooms, trimmed and separated
  • 2 tbsp tarragon leaves, cut into pieces