This is an excellent feel good soup for winter as it nourishes the kidneys as well helping to stimulate circulation and heat in the body. The addition of fresh ginger and kombu helps to moisten dryness.

1/2 cup aduki beans, soaked in 3 cups cold water over night or, soaked in 3 cups boiling water for 30mins-1hour
2 inch piece of kombu, soak with beans
3 small sweet potato or 1 large, peeled and diced
2 handfuls celery leaves, roughly chopped
3 sticks of celery, sliced thickly on an angle
1 knob of fresh ginger, grated
1 bunch of greens (kale, silverbeet, spinach or rainbow chard), roughly chopped
1 leek, sliced thickly
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tablespoon tamari or 2 tablespoons miso (use a dark miso such as genmai - brown rice miso, or mugi - barley miso) and mix in a small bowl with a little of the cooking liquid to make a paste.

In a large pot, heat sesame oil and sauté leek and ginger until a little soft.
Add beans, kombu and soaking water and bring to boil. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for about 30 mins until beans begin to soften.
Add sweet potato, celery, greens (if using spinach add it towards the last few minutes of cooking), tamari and celery leaves.
Simmer for a further 10-15mins until sweet potato is tender. If using miso, add at the end of cooking, stirring into pot just before turning off heat.
Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with spring onions. Eat immediately.
With a bowl of well cooked brown rice this makes a very satisfying and complete meal.

Other root vegetables such as turnip, swede, beet root and carrot are also delicious in this soup, as is pumpkin. Butternut pumpkin or Jarradale are good because they keep their shape in the soup otherwise use Jap pumpkin for a nice soft, sweet texture.

WORDS: Sandie Hernandez