If you’re looking out the window and seeing snow, as I am as I write this, you’re probably not thinking of a crisp winter salad. But salad has its place even on a wintertime table, especially one made with seasonal ingredients and tossed with a hearty, full-flavored dressing.
This salad is Japanese in spirit, if not exactly traditional. Baby bok choy and Nappa cabbage, crisp Asian pear and roasted hard squash are ingredients you would find on the Japanese table, though not necessarily in the same dish. The pickled ginger miso dressing is a version of basic vinaigrette served on the house salad at many Japanese restaurants.
Miso, which is fermented and salted soybean paste, is a basic ingredient in miso soup, along with bonito flakes and kombu. Miso adds a depth of flavor, that umami punch you want in the wintertime.
The salad, with its light greens, pale yellows and oranges, is a beauty to behold, so take the time in carefully constructing it on the plate.
Note: Shiro miso can be purchased at Pacific Mercantile.
Winter Salad with Pickled Ginger Miso Dressing
Serves 4.
PICKLED GINGER MISO DRESSING
Ingredients
4 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons pickled ginger with liquid
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons Shiro Miso
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
¾ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame chile oil
FOR THE SALAD
1 small butternut squash, peeled
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Mixture
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 heads baby bok choy, leaves separated
2 cups Nappa cabbage, diced into 2 inch squares
1 Asian pear
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Directions
Place the rice vinegar, pickled ginger with liquid, garlic, Shiro Miso, brown sugar and light soy sauce in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly add the canola oil in a steady stream to emulsify, then the sesame chile oil. Keep the dressing covered and refrigerated.
To make the salad:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a Japanese mandolin, shave the top, cylindrical part of the peeled butternut squash (save the rest of the squash for something else) into rectangles about 1/8 inch thick. Toss the squash rectangles in the canola oil, brown sugar, Chinese Five Spice and salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the bok choy leaves for about 1 second. Shock in ice water. Drain and dry well.
To assemble the salad, place the bok choy, cabbage, squash and sesame seeds in a large mixing bowl.Shave the pear into the salad. Toss salad with enough of the Pickled Ginger Miso dressing to coat. Mix well. Divide the salad among 4 plates and serve immediately.
