The 1-Minute Dressing I Put on Everything

There’s a salad on my table nearly every single night. In all honesty, it’s mostly out of laziness. It’s not that I don’t love salads (in fact, I wrote an entire cookbook about them) but that I find salads simple and useful. They instantly round out my dinner table by adding a serving of vegetables to the equation and turn whatever we’ve scrounged up—which in my household is usually some form of pasta, a quick salmon or chicken situation, or good old takeout pizza—into a complete meal.

Where my creativity kicks in is the dressing. While I grew up on bottled salad dressing, the moment I realized that you could make it yourself with really no more than just oil and vinegar, I was forever changed.

Though I almost exclusively stick with olive oil because it’s the oil I use most in my cooking, I love playing around with different kinds of vinegar, citrus juices, and add-ins like Dijon, honey, and spices. To me, a salad dressing is also an opportunity to use an ingredient in my pantry or fridge that may not receive as much attention as it deserves, which is exactly how I landed on my current favorite iteration.

Why I Love This Miso-Maple Dressing

As someone who cooks heavily with Italian and Mediterranean ingredients, it can take me forever to get through a tub of white miso, which I love for its umami punch but admittedly don’t reach for enough—so into my salad dressing it went. Now I put this miso dressing on everything.

This miso maple dressing comes together in a minute or less and is the ultimate combination of savory, sweet, and zippy. The maple syrup gives it a warming vibe that feels extra at home at this chilly time of year, but really, it’s great through all four seasons. If I have a garlic clove handy and I am up for grating or mincing it, it lends even more depth of flavor, but this dressing is also perfectly content without it. 

What To Serve With This Dressing

Just about any type of salad would be happily tossed in this dressing—a simple green one (hearty greens like kale and bitter chicories like radicchio and endive are especially nice right now), cucumber salad, noodle salad, grain salad, bean salad, and beyond. But it’s also delicious drizzled on roasted, sautéed, or stir-fried vegetables.

Ways To Make This Dressing Your Own

As I said, what’s so fun about homemade salad dressings is the room to play. Here are a few ways to mix up this simple dressing equation:

• Grate a little fresh ginger (no need to peel) into the jar or add a big pinch of ground ginger.
• Looking for a way to use that pomegranate molasses that’s lingering in your fridge? Use it in place of the maple syrup and thank me later.
• Avocado oil is great in place of the olive oil.
• Try out different vinegars like white wine or sherry vinegar, or use acidic citrus juices like grapefruit, lime, or lemon juice instead.
• Craving creaminess? Add a little tahini or another nut butter like peanut or almond butter.