Avocado Salad with Creamy Miso Dressing
on Jul 01, 2016, Updated Sep 16, 2024
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A recreation of one of the best Japanese avocado salads ever.
This salad is such a beautiful pairing of creamy avocado, a silky dressing, and a bed of crunchy lettuce. It’s the perfect way to start any Japanese meal or just a lovely switch-up for a salad with creamy dressing. The dressing is salty and rich with such amazing depth of flavor, and if you think a green salad can’t be satisfying, wait until you try this dressing over the lushness of sliced avocados.
Try this with Japanese Meatballs with Ponzu Glaze, Teriyaki Salmon, or Kimchi Fried Rice.
Table of Contents
My friend Mary Anne and I love going to a Japanese restaurant called Japonica, near Union Square in New York City. We always get the sliced avocado appetizer with a creamy miso dressing to start, which is one of her craving dishes. I decided to try and recreate her favorite dish so that we can both have it at home.
Mary Anne and I talk about all of the changes in our lives — kids, work, travel — but the place and the menu stay the same. If a foolish consistency is, in fact, the hobgoblin of little minds, then once or twice a year, we are quite satisfied with our foolish lunches.
Ingredients
- Fresh ginger – See how you can peel it with a spoon!
- Vegetable oil
- White miso paste – The base of this rich umami dressing.
- Lemon juice – Fresh, please!
- Ponzu sauce – If you have it! No need to make a special trip, but this citrusy sauce is a great Japanese ingredient to have around if you like making Asian food. You can sub in rice vinegar or white wine vinegar.
- Honey – Use agave if you are looking for a vegan dressing.
- Minced garlic
- Mixed baby greens or shredded romaine – Choose your favorite lettuce. (I would also love to try this with frisée, which isn’t very Japanese, but it would be great.)
- Avocados – Make sure they are perfectly ripe since they are the star of this salad!
How to Make Avocado Salad with Creamy Miso Dressing
- Make the dressing: In a blender of a food processor, combine the ginger, oil, water, miso, lemon juice, Ponzu or rice vinegar, honey, garlic, and pepper.
- Make the salad: Pile the greens in four small places. Slice the avocados and fan out each avocado half over the greens. Drizzle the dressing evenly over each avocado and the lettuce.
What to Serve With Avocado Salad and Creamy Miso Dressing
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Avocado Salad with Creamy Miso Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 1-inch piece fresh ginger (peeled)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Ponzu sauce or rice vinegar (see Note)
- 1 tablespoon honey (see Note)
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 4 cups mixed baby greens (or shredded romaine)
- 2 Hass avocados
Instructions
- In a blender of a food processor, combine the ginger, oil, water, miso, lemon juice, Ponzu or rice vinegar, honey, garlic, and pepper.
- Pile the greens in four small places. Cut the avocados in half, remove the peel, and slice the halves crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Fan out each avocado half over the greens, and drizzle the dressing evenly over each avocado and the lettuce. (Yes, it seems fussy, but it looks awesome, and that’s how they do it at Japonica, and that’s how I’m doing it at my house.)
Notes
- Instead of doing a combo of the rice vinegar and the lemon juice or Ponzu, go ahead and choose just one of these items and use 2 tablespoons. You will still get a wonderful dressing, just with fewer ingredients.
- Ponzu sauce is available in Asian markets and in the Asian aisle of many well-stocked supermarkets.
