Creamy Lemon-Miso Dressing

Creamy Lemon-Miso Dressing

NY Times 

If I were a singer-songwriter, I would write a power ballad about my love for Kismet Rotisserie in Los Angeles. The shoebox-size, mostly takeout restaurant serves the kind of food I’d eat every day if I lived in the neighborhood: golden roast chicken, fluffy pita and perfectly seasoned side dishes piled high with vegetables. But what I love most are its sauces and dressings. Especially its miso-poppy seed dressing, which I set out to re-create a couple of years ago. At some point, though, my journey took a detour, landing me here with this recipe from my book, “Good Things” (Random House, 2025), at what just might be my new favorite all-purpose dressing. Tangy, sweet, creamy and rounded out with umami, it manages to hit every note you could want in a dressing without being cloying. Add some poppy seeds for classic flavor or leave them out to make the dressing more versatile for drizzling over roasted vegetables, in potato salad or anywhere else you can imagine.

Yield: About 2 cups

¼ cup aquafaba (See Tips)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, divided, plus more as needed

¾ cup sunflower oil

¼ cup sugar

2 packed teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed

3 tablespoons white miso

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional), lightly toasted

In a liquid measuring cup or wide-mouth jar, combine the aquafaba, mustard and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. With an immersion blender running on high speed, drizzle the oil in a thin stream to blend and make the aquafaba “mayonnaise.”

In another wide-mouth jar, blend together the remaining 3 tablespoons vinegar and the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, miso, garlic, onion powder, celery seeds and salt until smooth. Return the blender to the aquafaba mayonnaise, and with the blender running at high speed, drizzle in the lemon-miso mixture. Stir in the poppy seeds, if desired. Taste and adjust with salt, vinegar and lemon juice as needed.

Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week.

Tips

Aquafaba is the liquid left over from cooking beans and is often used for its thickening properties. The liquid from a can of chickpeas works well here.

To make roasted broccoli, gently massage finely grated lemon zest onto dark-roasted broccoli when you take it out of the oven, then let it cool a bit. When it’s nearly room temperature, transfer to a serving platter, drizzle generously with the dressing, garnish with finely chopped parsley or chives, and serve.

* I would not bother with the liquid from a can of chickpeas -- but start with commercial mayonnaise complete with chemicals. There are lots of ways to gussie up mayo. This is rather a coleslaw dressing with the poppy and celery seeds. I would taste before adding the garlic.