Foodie Fridays: Miso Dressing
We have always struggled with our weight, and still, to this day question our appearance.
Our relationship with food (yes we all have a relationship with food), changed when we started to cook. For us, understanding the fundamentals of cooking, learning where food comes from and how it supplies nutritional value to our bodies, changed our life.
When we were looking for a job a couple years ago we needed to find something to fill our time between endless job interviews. So, we would watch Food Network shows and try to replicate the recipes. At first, we were a mess, but we stayed with it until we became comfortable.
Four years later, and we have a much greater respect for food. Thus, Foodie Fridays was born. We wanted to dedicate a portion of the blog every week to the celebration of food. Each Friday, we will post about a certain kind of food – it’s qualities, etc. (more of an educational approach) or about a cooking technique, or about a familiar recipe we love or about recipes that we are trying for the first time. We will also probably will have to thrown in gift ideas and speedy party foods because we love entertaining!
We hope you enjoy!
Today’s Foodie Friday……Miso.
What is Miso you ask? We were reading an article in Bon Appetite (Jan 2011 edition) over our Holiday travels and stumbled on this article portraying miso. We've never understood what miso was or even its function, but this article was genius. So, we thought we would share what we learned about this soy based protein with you.
Miso is a fermented paste that is typically made from soybeans. Miso may also be fermented from rice or barley. When translated, means savoriness. This is a great way to get protein if you are a vegetarian or if you just need a break from red meat.
You can find miso at Whole Foods or any Asian market. Miso typically comes in three types:
1. White Miso 2. Yellow/Brown Miso 3. Red Miso
~ mild taste ~ medium taste ~ intense taste
A favorite thing about miso: it’s a paste, so miso can be added to anything! Glazes on pork or salmon, aioli’s, sweet sauces for pies or cobblers…. the options are endless.
Today, we wanted to share a speedy recipe from the article: Miso-Ginger Dressing.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of white miso
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic glove minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of ground white pepper
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 5 oz. bag of mixed greens
1/2 English cucumber halved, and thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely grated
1 large green onion, sliced on a diagonal
Directions:
Combine first 6 ingredients in small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil. Combine mixed greens, cucumber, carrot, and onion in large bowl. Toss with dressing to coat and serve.
**The dressing is also great dip for shrimp or chicken.
Now, go get your miso on!
