Dinner Bowl #31

 

A long while ago, I made pastina soup from a recipe I found at Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures. I didn't have miso then, so I wanted to try it again to see if adding miso added the "something" that seemed to be missing. I still think this soup needs something, but it was somehow addictive anyway!

I had it with a veggie bologna sandwich on whole wheat bread. The cheese you see is Field Roast's Chao, which I hadn't seen in local stores in absolute years. I hope the return of Chao locally means more of the Field Roast products will reappear. For a long time, we've had hyper-realistic vegan substitutes available, which crowded out a lot of things I really liked. (The vegan nugget market, for example, was way, way oversaturated.) Although there was a time when I wanted those hyper-realistic things, I think I've been wanting something else more lately. Chao is a non-dairy cheese that doesn't try to mimic a dairy cheese. It plays to its own strengths.

In any case, I enjoyed this meal. It was relatively easy to prepare and felt soothing on a chilly day.

On a totally different topic, please vote if you haven't yet, Americans!