Flashback Friday - Tomato Salad with Spicy Miso Dressing

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on August 9, 2013.

After a week of restaurant food (literally, we ate at home only one night), we just wanted something simple for dinner. Macaroni and cheese seemed like the answer. And since our little raised-bed garden is churning out tomatoes like there's no tomorrow--just the way I like it!--we had a tomato salad on the side. The miso dressing was inspired by the spicy miso paste that accompanied a plate of assorted skewered tidbits at PABU, so one of those restaurant meals did end up following us home.

That ended up being a good thing. Miso and sriracha work really well with tomatoes.

Tomato Salad with Spicy Miso Dressing

1 tablespoon red miso
2 teaspoons Sriracha
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chopped chives
3-4 ripe tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix the miso, Sriracha, vinegar, honey, onion powder, and chives together in a small bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust spice level, sweetness, and tang to your liking.

Cut the tomatoes into wedges, and the wedges into thirds. Place in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Add the dressing and toss gently to coat. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

Garnish with more chives, if desired.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Charred Carrot Salad

I am really in love with charred carrots. I've made them at least twice before (here and here) and will make them again and again. I love the way the burnt outsides add another dimension of flavor to the sweet and earthy vegetable. It takes away a bit of the sweetness, actually, making them more palatable to people who are not all that fond of cooked carrots (like Mr Minx). I also love the way they smell while they are charring over the gas flame of my cooktop. Yes, they smell burnt, but that's not a bad thing.

In the past, I put the charred carrots in the oven to finish cooking, but when it's 1000 degrees outside, the microwave is a less-sweaty alternative. Takes much less time, too.

For some reason, I find that charred carrots go really well with Middle Eastern flavors, like harissa, so I whipped up a quick vinaigrette with some stuff I had on hand--lemon juice, Dijon, honey, and harissa. I don't like oily vinaigrettes--I prefer them to be on the acidy or sweet side, so I used just enough extra virgin olive oil to add richness and bind the other ingredients together. I think I made about three tablespoons of the dressing in all, so start off with tiny amounts like the juice of half a lemon, a small squirt of the mustard, a dollop of the honey, a wee bit of harissa. Beat well with a fork, then add a tablespoon or so of the oil. Beat again. Taste. If it needs more of anything, add it. If not, then you've made a very flavorful dressing with not a whole lot of work.

Add nuts and cheese to the salad--I had walnuts and bleu, but pistachios and feta would be amazing. Scallion and mint add still more flavor.

This salad would make a great meal all on its own with some good buttered bread, I think, but it would also be a fab side dish for some simple grilled chicken.

Charred Carrot Salad

4-5 medium carrots
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon harissa or to taste
Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey or to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1 scallion, thinly sliced on the bias
Chopped walnuts or pistachios
Bleu cheese or feta crumbles (omit if you prefer a vegan dish)
Fresh mint leaves

Peel and trim the carrots. Blot carrots dry with a paper towel and blacken on a very hot grill or over an open gas flame. Turn them regularly to blacken all sides. As the carrots are done, place them on a microwave-safe plate. When all carrots are thoroughly charred, cover the plate with plastic wrap and microwave on high power about 4-5 minutes or until tender. Remove plastic and allow carrots to cool on the plate.

Make a dressing with the lemon juice, harissa, a squirt of Dijon, the honey, and a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Beat with a fork until emulsified and taste. Add salt if needed. It should be very thick and pungent. Add more lemon or harissa if you want it more tart or spicy.

When carrots are cool, cut them on the bias into about 2" long slices. Mound them on a plate, drizzle with dressing, and top with scallions, nuts, cheese, and torn fresh mint.

Serves 2 - 4



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Fennel and Asparagus Salad

Some people consider "salad" a pile of leafy greens topped with cukes and tomatoes and glopped with dressing. And ok, that's a very American-style salad, but it's just one of many. I consider pretty much anything bound together in a vinegary sauce and eaten cold to be a salad, whether it involves, grains, pasta, or meats in addition to veg and fruit, or even all of the above.

Poke around in your fridge and cupboard to see what you have on hand. I almost guarantee (almost, because you might be one of those people who keeps nothing but beer and yogurt in the fridge and cereal in the cupboard) that you have the makings of a salad.

We always have some sort of veg, and even if we don't have anything fresh, there's always frozen green beans and corn and a can of at least one kind of beans in the cupboard. And I'm a vinegar fanatic, so salad dressings are a snap. Vinegar + mustard + oil + seasonings in any combination you like makes the perfect dressing for you. I also like to add a bit of sweetness to my dressing, particularly if the vinegar I've chosen is very pungent, like the sherry vinegar in this fennel and asparagus salad I made one night when we had both in the fridge and needed something green to go with dinner.

Fennel and Asparagus Salad

1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch garlic powder
Pinch smoked paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bulb fennel, cored and sliced very thinly
8 spears asparagus, trimmed and sliced thinly on the diagonal
5 chive blossoms

Combine first seven ingredients in a small bowl and beat vigorously with a fork to combine. Put the sliced fennel and asparagus in a bowl, pour over the dressing, and toss well. Tear apart the chive blossoms and add to the bowl. Toss again before serving.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Brussels Sprouts Salad

I usually look forward to Thanksgiving, until I remember that I cook most of the food for the holiday. Mr Minx and I celebrate with our combined families at his brother's house. Brother-in-law makes the turkey and stuffing, and my brother usually contributes pies to the occasion. But all of the side dishes--cranberry sauce (no I won't buy canned), corn pudding, Brussels sprouts, green been casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole--fall to hubby and me.

I usually spend the day before Thanksgiving in the kitchen, prepping everything. All we really have to do on Thanksgiving day is pop casseroles into the oven (or in the case of the corn pudding, the microwave). Except with the Brussels sprouts, which must be cooked a la minute. Typically, we separate the leaves from the sprouts, give them a rinse, steam them for a few minutes in the water that clings to the leaves after rinsing, season and serve. While it's fairly easy, it takes up a burner on the stove and even though they're cooked at the very last minute, the sprouts are cold by the time people get around to eating. Then I found a couple recipes for shaved raw Brussels sprouts salads and thought it could be the answer. It's not much more work on the day before, but on the day of, all I need to do is to remove the cover from the bowl and put it on the table.

It tastes pretty good too, although, like kale salad, raw Brussels sprouts give the jaws a workout.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
Adapted from a recipe found on The Kitchn

3/4 pound Brussels sprouts, the larger the better
1 small apple
4 teaspoons lemon juice, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds
Shaved Parmesan cheese

Cut off the stem ends of the sprouts and remove the outer dark green leaves. Cut each sprout in half and remove the core. Slice the rest very thinly, putting slices in a large bowl. Alternately, you can slice them with the slicing or grating blade on your food processor, or with a mandoline.

Peel and core the apple and slice it very thinly. Toss with half the lemon juice.

Place the butter in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat until browned and nutty smelling. Pour it into a ramekin or bowl to stop the cooking.

In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar, remaining lemon juice, agave, and salt. Slowly add the browned butter while whisking to combine. Then add the vegetable oil, whisking until emulsified.

Toss the dressing with the shredded sprouts. Add the apples to the bowl and toss again. Add the nuts and toss yet again. Allow the salad to sit for half an hour or so.

Serve topped with shaved Parm.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Tomato Salad with Spicy Miso Dressing

After a week of restaurant food (literally, we ate at home only one night), we just wanted something simple for dinner. Macaroni and cheese seemed like the answer. And since our little raised-bed garden is churning out tomatoes like there's no tomorrow - just the way I like it! - we had a tomato salad on the side. The miso dressing was inspired by the spicy miso paste that accompanied a plate of assorted skewered tidbits at PABU, so one of those restaurant meals did end up following us home.

That ended up being a good thing. Miso and sriracha works really well with tomatoes.

Tomato Salad with Spicy Miso Dressing

1 tablespoon red miso
2 teaspoons Sriracha
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon agave syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chopped chives
3-4 ripe tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix the miso, Sriracha, vinegar, agave or  honey, onion powder, and chives together in a small bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust spice level, sweetness, and tang to your liking.

Cut the tomatoes into wedges, and the wedges into thirds. Place in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Add the dressing and toss gently to coat. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop.

Garnish with more chives, if desired.



Posted on Minxeats.com.