miso 'ceasar-style' dressing or dip
I wrote in the Molly’s Bottle Club notes for April about a miso caesar dressing recipe that had been shared with me by the amazing Anna Sugiyama from Yoka Miso! and I meant to send the recipe but then promptly forgot <insert sad face> when I sent the email.
soooo here is the recipe along some musings about miso! And I’d like to point out that I use this ‘dressing’ as a dipping sauce A LOT! and while it is a creamy-style dressing, it is a riff on a ceasar with the miso replacing the anchovies so it’s very veg friendly and with a vegan mayo, this would be a great and extremely flavorful way to get all the good gut biome vibes humming along.
Miso!! what a glorious thing!! when I met Anna, I was a alternating between massive intimidation about what it is / how to use it and really, really wanting to learn how to make it. As we’ve become friends, I am so excited to embrace miso in all parts of my life. First of all, as an umami bomb of flavor that will add a depth of flavor to anything you put it in. The tiniest dollop makes your favorite spaghetti sauce pop like you won’t believe - speaking of that, add a spoonful to your pasta water instead of salt and your mind will be blown!
Most of the ways I incorporate miso into my recipes are not a miso bomb - sub miso butter in an oatmeal cookie recipe and you get a brown butter vibe without having to brown the butter! Add a small scoop of miso into the ice cream base of your fav ice cream recipe and you get a caramel layer without all the sugary sweetness. Miso butter popcorn is one of the best and most amazing flavor bombs ever plus what a great way to get fiber and miso into your body!!!
Miso butter (2parts butter to 1part miso) with a tiny teaspoon of Gochuchang is AMAZING!! use it for a fast pasta dinner or even lightly spread on toast before adding the avocado or cheese!! not joking - it may just change your life. And your gut will thank you profusely!!
soooo without further musings - the recipe!
in a jar or mixing bowl, add::
3 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
1-tsp dijon mustand
2-TBPS traditional Yoka Miso (the garbanzo is good here too but adds a little sweetness so it’s really a preference thing)
lemon juice from 1-lemon or about a tsp
150g mayo (I often use Greek/Icelandic yogurt here since I don’t eat a lot of mayo so don’t have it around - I did use a vegan mayo last time which added a bit more punch)
WHISK it all up - it will seem glompy at first but don’t worry!!
Taste it and add a little apple cider vinegar at the end if you wanna
This keeps in the fridge for a long time but I usually eat it all in under a week.
Again, it seems thick but will thin out and cover those gorgeous Little Gem lettuces from Dear Table (or your local, fav farmer) absolutely perfectly!