It has been three months since I made the drastic change of switching to a gluten-free diet. When I initially made the switch, I honestly didn’t expect to experience many changes – however, what always seemed like a few extra pounds to me actually turned out to be a lot of inflammation that seemed to go away as the weeks progressed.

So here I am, fortunate enough to not have celiac, but obviously having some sensitivity to wheat/gluten – I’m committed to sticking with this diet for at least a little while longer. One of the things I miss most though is having savoury items for breakfast – I used to have toast with cream cheese or English muffins with butter, but now, it seems like I’m always having sweeter breakfasts – yogurt with fruit and granola, oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas or a smoothie.

Thus, trying out miso soup for breakfast – it is a staple in the Japanese diet, so why not try it myself? Miso is actually a great option to have in the morning, as it is improves your digestion and metabolism for the day. When buying your miso, look for an unpasteurized, organic version to gain all of the probiotic benefits. I picked up a tub of Cold Mountain Red Miso to keep in my refrigerator from Whole Foods a few weeks ago.

This morning’s soup had mushrooms, green pepper, chives and nori (I didn’t have any wakame in the house, so I just cup up pieces of nori). It took under 10 minutes to make (and if I had prepped my veggies the evening before, it would have been even faster).

Ingredients

• 6 small button mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• pinch sea salt
• pinch black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 1/2 sheet nori, cut into strips
• 1 tbsp red miso

1. Saute the veggies, salt and pepper in a tablespoon of water, until softened.
2. Add the water and bring to a boil.
3. Once water is boiling, mix in chives and nori.
4. Turn the heat off, and stir in miso – it is important to do this last to ensure that the excessive heat doesn’t break down the beneficial enzymes in the miso.

At first, I was going to pour my soup into a travel mug and take it to go, but it was a cool, fall morning, and I decided I would enjoy it more if I savoured the steamy goodness in a bowl at home – I’m glad I took the extra few minutes for myself this morning.