main dishes / recipes / soups+stews / glutenfree / vegan

The good thing about improvisation is that sometimes, without looking for it, dishes come out more than decent, even really delicious. And besides being a really nice thing, it reminds us that it is not possible to have everything under control and organized, which is something liberating, at least in my case.

This dish is perfect for this autumn time, so close to the winter cold. Although here in Mallorca it seems that the cold doesn´t arrive so easily.

It is by itself a complete dish with a 100% vegetal origin, which allows us to have a break from the animal products, in case you are having too many animal-by products and don´t find any other alternatives.

Adding seaweeds and miso is a way of finishing up the dish and make it even more nutritious due to its high amount of minerals. Both the seaweeds and the millet are a couple of ingredients I try to include in a weekly basis, at least once or twice per week. But sometimes I forget it. And that is why this dish which includes both of them, it is so convenient.

On one hand, miso is a fermented product which means that is “alive”, so be careful and check beforehand that it is not pasteurized. That fermentation helps digestion thanks to its enzymes, besides being a great source of vitamins and proteins. It is very important not to boil it so it doesn´t lose all these properties! When your soup or stew are done, you will need to dissolve a little bit of the miso paste with a bit of broth in a glass and afterwards, add it to the pan with the fire off. You can also use it in a cold dish, adding it to a vinaigrette or sauce and will provide all those nutritious qualities, besides a very particular flavour. As it is a salty ingredient, you must have that in mind when adding the salt.

From the big variety of seaweeds in the market, I have chosen the “arame” because its flavour goes along very well with the chickpeas. It contains a big amount of iodine, calcium and iron. The seaweeds in general have the capacity of sweep along all the heavy metals of the body, help reduce the cholesterol level in the blood and above all, they are an endless source of minerals easily assimilable by our body, besides having a great alkalinizing power. And they are also a synonym of sea taste!

I use some particular vegetables in this recipe because I had them around at that moment, but feel free to choose whatever you have at home. And you can also replace the potatoes with rice or millet, if you prefer it like that.