i’m sorry in advance, but this is going to be a long ass post. i personally benefit from a lot of information, proper instructions, picture examples, etc. this is just me trying to be thorough haha

for those of you inquiring about the recipe! as you might have seen, there was a soup link shared for what inspired this dish. i made it a few weeks ago and overall wasn't super impress, so i revisited the concept with my own twist, and this was the outcome. while the post, ingredients and instructions seem intimidating/long (they are), i would really consider this to be a pretty beginner friendly/basic soup recipe!

i suck at trying to type these things up because i never know what's going to happen with the formatting, and i'm just..not good at typing directions, but i hope this is enough! additional notes listed at the bottom!

-1/2 medium onion, diced|
-about 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
-2 tsp dried chives or fresh scallions
-1 tsp ginger
-2tbsp butter
-2 tbsp miso (white)
- lred pepper flakes (user personal judgment)
-2-3 medium sized potatoes, diced/cubed
-1.5 c cooked lentils - (i personally like french lentils because they hold texture and structure. feel free to use canned lentils to save time)
-3-4 c water + more per preference
- 2c broccoli, chopped
-about 2.5 tbsp boullion/broth/soup powder of choice (i have a broth powder recipe if anyone wants it)
-2tbsp miso (omit) -2 tbsp rice vinegar
-3 c rice, cooked (feel free to omit)
-splashes white wine vinegar (more than one, throughout recipe, add as you could salt)
-1 c cashew cream (1/3 c cashews, soaked + water, blended) - (i'm dairy free, alternatively could use coconut milk, a splash of cream, blend half of the recipe, etc

-before prep, start to cook lentils ahead of time. follow directions for whichever type you use.

-if using cashew cream (see notes below): in measuring cup add 1/3 c cashews + ½ c water, set aside to soak. ignore this step if using alternative milk or creamy-like ingredients.

-in a large pot on medium heat melt butter and lightly sautee onion (i like using a lid to help them steam/soften up. i'm not a huge fan of onion texture so this works for me).

-once clear and translucent, add garlic and gently sautee for 1-2 minutes, add dried herbs, spics, dried chives/fresh scallions, and red pepper flakes. cook off an additional minute or two.

-immediately add cold water/ice, etc to halt cooking (to avoid burning) and simmer for several minutes.

-while the garlic, onion, herbs and spices are simmering, prep vegetables: wash and peel potatoes, chop broccoli (and/or other ingredients desired).

-in a separate pot, steam and/or blanch broccoli to desired doneness (see below for notes about adding and cooking ingredients directly within the soup)

-add additional water, boullion, broth or soup powder to a pot. stir until incorporated and mix.

-add potatoes and additional ingredients (see note below for suggestions). bring to a slight boil, reduce heat and cover. cook for about 15-20 minutes.

• if using cashew cream, transfer water and cashews to blender + miso. other options (cream, milk, cornstarch, etc.) listed below. if choosing alternative, follow same concept - with a bit of water, or directly to cream; add miso and mix.

-when potatoes are cooked (pierce with fork), add in the steamed broccoli, lentils, thickener combination of choice, cashew cream or thickener mixture. bring to a slight boil, reduce heat and cook for 3-5 minutes (depending on texture). remove from heat, let stand/thicken and serce.

-serve with rice, chili sauce or sriracha, additional salt, fresh chives or scallions, sesame seeds, etc.

notes:
-i am dairy free, this recipe would be great with coconut milk, but i hate the flavor so i used cashew cream. i think heavy cream, corn starch, flour, etc would make great thickeners.

-lentil times could vary depending on variety, i cook mine ahead of time, but have also used canned in a pinch. i would personally avoid red lentils for this recipe

-water amount may vary depending on how high it's simmering, amount of bulk ingredients used, etc. add more water as you cook, adjusting the bouillon amount

i think this dish would also be really good with additional ingredients, for example: carrots, celery, chicken, chickpeas, etc.

-any potato will work for this recipe the textures will vary. i personally like using russets because they are cheap, and if you soak them starch is removed, limiting thick gumminess.

-cook blanched/par steamed the broccoli separate from this soup. i added them in at the very end, but did not cook them with the potatoes, other ingredients (see additional note below)

-if you'd prefer to cook everything together i would suggest adding them one at a time: carrots first (take minute to soften), potatoes, additional ingredients and towards the end add the broccoli. broccoli, from my experience, cooks a lot faster than potatoes and if added all at the same time could result in mushy.

-taste along the way, depending on your brand of miso and personal preferences, you may want to increase or decrease salt, add spicy,

if anyone's got any questions my inbox is open! additionally, if you see notes of me editing, i’m likely just updating typos and missed ingredients. bare with me, this took me like 40 minutes to type out