House Dressing

 House Dressing

This perfect vinaigrette recipe comes from Via Carota, the charming West Village restaurant run by Jody Williams and Rita Sodi. Since I first wrote about this recipe, it’s become indispensable not only for me but also for my entire Culinary Brain Trust, who now simply call it House Dressing. This version comes from my book, “Good Things” (Random House, 2025). The warm water in this recipe might surprise you. “We add warm water to make it more palatable,” Ms. Williams said. “Pure vinegar is just too strong — it assaults the taste buds. We want a salad dressing so savory and delicious that you can eat spoonfuls of it. We want you to be able to drink it!” Drizzle this liberally over everything: boiled asparagus, farro salad, steak, fish or roast chicken. And if you don’t have both types of mustard on hand, just use twice as much of whichever you do have.

Yield: 1½ cups

1 large shallot, very finely diced

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon aged sherry vinegar, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon warm water

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons honey

1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 ½ teaspoons whole-grain mustard

2 thyme sprigs, washed leaves picked and finely chopped (about ½ teaspoon)

1 garlic clove, finely grated

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the shallot in a fine-mesh sieve and quickly rinse with cold water. Allow to drain, then place in a medium bowl. Add vinegar and warm water, and let the shallot mixture sit for 2 minutes

Whisk in oil, honey, both mustards, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the salt and vinegar as needed.

Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 1 week.

Tip: To make a crunchy and refreshing green salad, toss Little Gem lettuce (or your favorite variety of baby lettuce), thinly shaved fennel, tender dill fronds, whole cilantro and parsley leaves, 1-inch pieces of chives and dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Delicately mound onto a serving platter and serve immediately.

Miso-Sesame Vinaigrette That’s Good on Anything

Miso-Sesame Vinaigrette That’s Good on Anything

This all-purpose miso-sesame vinaigrette is great on a simple salad with lettuces and fresh vegetables, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced onions, radishes, jicama or grated carrots, or in this Chicken and Cabbage Salad. Try it drizzled on an iceberg wedge, over sliced leftover steak, chicken or tofu, or on grilled seafood, served hot or cold. It’s especially good with grilled salmon and spicy greens like watercress, mizuna or arugula.

Yield: 1 cup

2 medium garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a knife

1 small shallot, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons shoyu or tamari

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon light miso paste

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

½ cup grapeseed, vegetable or canola oil

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons toasted white or black sesame seeds

Combine garlic, shallot, shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar in a blender and blend on high speed until homogenous. (Alternatively, mash garlic and shallots in the bowl of a large granite or marble mortar and pestle into a fine paste using the pestle, then stir in the shoyu, vinegars, miso and sugar.)

With the blender running on medium speed (the liquid should form a vortex but not jump up and splatter on the walls of the blender), slowly drizzle in the grapeseed oil. (If using a mortar and pestle, slowly drizzle in the oil as you stir vigorously with the pestle.)

Transfer to a lidded jar. Stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds with a spoon. Dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Shake well before using.

TIP: Made this without a blender (used a micro plane for the shallot and garlic) and a whisk to combine the liquids.

I was a bit skeptical of the balsamic fitting in with the other more traditionally Asian flavors but it turned out fabulous. Drizzled this over some roasted salmon and it was absolutely delicious. Looking forward to trying this in other dishes!

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.