miso mustard salad dressing

Miso Mustard Dressing and Black Bean Noodle Salad

Todays recipe forms the base for a simple weeknight meal for one, or a crowd, but can also be a delicious salad in its own right.  Miso meets mustard and comes together in this surprising and delicious dressing/sauce.

Miso it seems is a very versatile ingredient which can be used in surprising and different ways apart from all the wonderful Japanese recipes we know and love.  With its strong umami flavour, its fermented gut health qualities and its very long shelf life, it is a great addition to the refrigerator.  Its longevity works really well for me – with my impulsive food buying nature, I like to know I don’t have to use it all now, and risk my family becoming thoroughly sick of one particular ingredient.

No chance of that today though as I ended up making supper for one on this occasion as flight plans were unexpectedly rescheduled.  Luckily this is one of those meal plans that can easily fit around the needs of the moment for the masses or the few.

I have been working on extending my repetoire for simple meal plans for weeknights. We have been making some amazing ready meals at work and I like the idea of extending this idea to some of my home meal prep.  I haven’t made this “one pan” – but still the dishes are not onerous with a blender or jar for the dressing, a pot for the noodles and vegetables and a pan or sheet tray for the salmon tofu or protein of choice.  The dressing can be made in advance and will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.

miso and mustard dressingThe noodles I used today are delicious organic black bean spaghetti.  If you can get them these noodles have great flavour and texture and take only minutes to cook.

Today I made this meal with beautiful sea run salmon, but you could easily substitute any protein you like.  I would like to try it with some sesame crusted crispy tofu, or even on a hot day some fresh soft tofu folded through this salad like noodle dish.

Most importantly, the miso I have used is our New Zealand Urban Hippie Miso a delicious – gluten free/gmo free/msg free/ unpasteurised miso.  This is delicious all round miso but choose your favourite or as always, importantly, what is in your refrigerator.

miso mustard dressing

SALMON SALAD WITH MISO AND MUSTARD DRESSING

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons miso ( I used New Zealand made Urban Hippie Miso)
  • 1Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons Vinegar – I used apple cider vinegar but rice wine vinegar or a mix of the two is great
  • Approximately 1/2 cup orange juice – add zest if squeezing fresh juice
  • 2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger
  • 1 Teaspoon sesame oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 “ish” Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds  (1 tablespoon for dressing and the rest to sprinkle over your chosen protein and for garnish.)
  • 1 portion of protein per serve – salmon, tofu, chicken or beef
  • 1 heaped cup of green vegetables per serve ie broccoli, beans, asparagus, edamame, peas ….
  • 1 handful of spinach per serve
  • 100grams of pasta per serve.

First, toast your sesame seeds, (you can use a mix of black and white sesame seeds or what ever you have to hand!)  It is worth toasting more than you need as these are a welcome addition to many salads and meals.  Toasting them makes a big difference to their flavour so try not to skip this step.

Next for the dressing – Add the first seven ingredient to your jar or blender and blend or shake until emulsified.  I used my Vitamix and the sesame seeds were completely emulsified but I prefer the look and taste of a processor or jar where the seeds maintain their form. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring a pot of water to the boil – this needs to be big enough to cook both the pasta and vegetables in one go,  (you could do this in two pots but I like the idea of only having one pot to wash!)  Don’t forget to generously salt the water.

Heat either a pan or the oven to cook your salmon in – you could also steam the salmon in a steamer over the pasta and vegetables.  I cooked my salmon in a preheated oven at 180’c for 15 minutes and it was medium rare.

Put a thin layer of your miso mustard dressing over the top surface of your salmon and generously sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.  Time the cooking of this to coincide with your completed pasta/vegetable mix

Depending on the type of pasta and its recommended cooking time, cook the pasta until it is minutes from being ready and then plunge all the vegetables in and bring it back to the boil.  At this point the vegetables and pasta should be aldante and ready to take from the heat and drain.

miso mustard salad dressing

Place all the vegetables and pasta into a bowl and while hot pour over a generous serve of your miso mustard dressing and finish (if you would like it) with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

miso mustard salad dressing

To serve, place a handful of fresh spinach in your bowl, then add your salad on top of this and finish with your chosen protein, (or serve this as is – a stand alone salad!)

You can choose to eat this straight away, or chill the components and toss together later for a cold salad on a hot day.miso mustard dressing

 

Enjoy.

2 Comments

  1. I’ve just stumbled upon your blog Anne and OMG this looks so good. I’m on it straight away. Fascinated by the black bean spag. I want some. You can’t get it here in France (that I’ve seen), but I’ll be home to NZ soon so will have to wait. x

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