I adore miso dressing over spinach and have been playing with a few variations since I posted my ginger miso dressing recipe. This spinach salad with sweet chili miso dressing has become my new favorite.
The dressing can be made without a food processor, it is just very difficult to get the miso to incorporate smoothly when stirring with a whisk or spoon. A mini food processor is a small but mighty investment if you like to make your own salad dressings.
For the salad, I adore the combination of carrots and onion to make this salad sweet and savory at the same time. The sesame sticks add crunch, and the sesame flavor goes perfectly with the miso and chili paste dressing.
The carrots, onion and sesame sticks make a great base that drive forward the flavors of the dressing, so those are the only toppings I put in the recipe. However, I have had this salad with all different kinds of additional vegetables including tomatoes (pictured), corn, cabbage, edamame, and chickpeas. You can play around with any other toppings you like to make this salad your own.
Variations to the Spinach Salad with Sweet Chili Miso Dressing recipe:
- Don’t be afraid of the chili paste in this recipe. The sweetness of the honey and miso balance the flavors so that it isn’t hot. At least not to me 😉
- Type of Miso: I used a brown rice miso, which is a variety of red miso, in this dressing. You can use any type of miso you have on hand. A sweet white miso is going to increase the sweetness, if that is your thing.
- The sesame sticks are the same thing you might put into a trail mix. I buy them from the bulk foods section at my local store. You could also use wonton strips or rice crackers.
- 2 oz fresh spinach (about 3 cups)
- ¼ cup shredded carrot
- ¼ cup sesame sticks
- 2 TBS chopped onion
- 1 TBS each: olive oil and red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tsp miso
- 1 tsp honey (or agave if vegan)
- ½ tsp garlic chili paste
- 1 garlic clove
- Layer spinach, carrots, sesame sticks and onion in a salad bowl.
- Add the olive oil, red wine vinegar, miso, honey, chili paste, and garlic to a mini food processor and process until smooth.
- Serve dressing over the spinach salad.
