miso Archives - dani california cooks

For a complete meal, sauteed salmon, roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli are topped with a simple miso dressing. Simple and nourishing!

One of my favorite things that I’ve discovered since moving to San Francisco is called UberPool. It’s a new offering by Uber where you can share a taxi ride with someone who is also going to a destination in the same direction that you’re going. It’s cheaper, and you end up having really fun conversations with your fellow rider! This weekend, I ended up chatting with this gal about Dani California Cooks and how I was planning to prepare this salmon dish. She provided some good ideas, and so - Uber Pool Lady Friend - if you’re reading this, many thanks for the inspiration!

San Francisco is general is on the cutting edge of everything it seems, but definitely technology and food are at the top. Great for me (the food) and great for Nate (the tech)! This city really feels like its moving forward and progressing and doing it super quickly It’s a very exciting environment to be a part of, and I can’t tell you how many new food trends and restaurants I want to try. But sometimes you just want to cook something simple and nourishing (especially when you’re nursing a day-long hangover) and these salmon bowls were created.

Filled with vegetables, hearty and delicious salmon, and a light and flavorful miso dressing, these make for an easy weeknight dinner (or in my case, Saturday night trying to get some health in my life). It comes together very simply. You don’t even need a food processor or blender to create the dressing, but if just whisking by hand, make sure that your ginger is very finely grated. Salmon Bowls with Miso Dressing | danicaliforniacooks.com I’m not a huge fan of labeling anything a “superfood”, but if I had to make claims - spinach and salmon and miso would be at the top of my list for superfoods. Miso may surprise you that it made that list, but the fact that it’s a fermented product means it packs tons of good probiotics and healthy bacteria. This dinner has a great mix of vegetables, proteins, healthy carbs and fats, and topped off with a gut-friendly miso dressing? Now that’s a supermeal. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Salmon Bowls with Miso Dressing

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour

For a complete meal, sauteed salmon, roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli are topped with a simple miso dressing. Simple and nourishing! Miso dressing based off of allrecipes.com

Author: Dani California Cooks

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

2 filets of salmon
1 head of broccoli
2 handfuls of spinach
2 small sweet potatoes, cubed
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp grated ginger (or if you have a good food processor, you can use larger pieces)
1 tsp honey
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp fresh red miso, plus 1 tsp
Sesame seeds/red pepper flakes
Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
In a baking dish or cookie sheet, place your sweet potatoes. Coat in a little olive oil and bake for 30 minutes
While the sweet potatoes are baking, make your miso dressing. In a blender or food processor, mix the rice wine vingear, ginger, sesame oil, lime, honey, and tbsp of miso. Blend well and set aside
Mix the teriyaki sauce and the 1 tsp of miso together, and "massage" into the flesh slide of the filet
Place filets skin side down in a medium saucepan on low to medium heat, and cook through, flipping once
While the salmon is cooking, steam your broccoli and spinach in the microwave or on the stove
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven
In separate bowls, divvy up the spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes. Place the salmon next to the vegetables, and drizzle on the miso dressing
Top with red pepper flakes and sesame seeds
Serve hot or cold!

Notes

If you don't want to use a food processor for the dressing, make sure you use finely grated ginger and whisk in a bowl!

If you like this, you’ll love: One-Pot Cioppino with Shrimp and Cod

You never know how your digestive system will react to foods in a new country, so I made sure not to forget my probiotics supplements in Cambodia - read why here!

It seems like everyone I know these days has some sort of digestive distress - whether it be foods they “react” poorly to, IBS, colitis, or allergies. And for some reason, these kinds of maladies are tough to find a root cause. I went through this a couple of years ago, and coupled with my rheumatoid arthritis we just chalked it up to autoimmune inflammation. It’s so interesting that our bodies have evolved this way - I definitely think it has something to do with the amount of processed food that we are exposed to. Equally interesting is that digestive disorders - Chrone’s, ulcerative colitis, IBS - are way more prevalent in developed countries. Some research has shown that digestive issues occur when there becomes an imbalance of bacteria in your gut. So what is there to do about it if we we don’t have a diagnosis, but we experience and feel real pain or distress? While there is probably nothing better for your system than a balanced, healthy diet, supplementing with probiotics has helped myself and many others reduce additional”unknown” digestive distress. So let’s take a deeper look!

What the hell are probiotics anyways? Probiotics are live bacteria with a variety of reported health benefits, including improving digestive and immune health, and inflammation reduction. They can be found in lots of foods you recognize or in pill form. You already have lots of “good” bacteria which live in your stomach already, which helps you break down and digest foods. Fun fact - your gut is your largest component of your immune system.

Okay, so what are these things I hear called PREbiotics? Prebiotics are non-digestible carbs, which are eaten by the probiotics. Circle of life, people!

Do I need a prescription to get probiotics? No. The best way to get probiotics is through probiotic-rich foods (see list below). You can also take probiotics in a pill form (like I do).

Are there any “side effects” of probiotics? I have never had any negative side effects from probiotics - whether incorporating them in my diet through food or pills.

I’m unconvinced. Where can I find more info on probiotics? I don’t blame you. Eating bacteria sounds weird. If you are curious on more info on probiotics WebMD (I know, I know), The Atlantic, and Everyday Health have some interesting pieces on them. Talk to your doctor. Research the Paleo diet, which is a big proponent of fermented foods - check out Danielle Walker’s Against All Grain.

Readers, lucky for you, most probiotic-rich food - fermented food - is DELICIOUS and easy to come by! You’re probably eating a lot of these already. See below for the top ten ways to up your intake of probiotics.

1. Supplements - I take a daily probiotic pill supplement first thing in the morning. I buy Nature’s Bounty Advanced Probiotic from Amazon in bulk, but you can find probiotics in pill-form anywhere - Target, Trader Joe’s, etc. download

2. Kefir - prononced (kee-fer). So yum. Keefir is a probiotic rich smoothie-like drink that you can find in the refrigerated dairy aisle. Good news though - it is 99% lactose free, so even those with dairy sensitivities can often handle kefir! Drink it plain, or make overnight oats with it. It tastes a lot like yogurt - a bit more liquid and even a little carbonated at times. I love it. shopping

3. Sauerkraut - Traditionally, sauerkraut is fermented cabbage. I know “fermented” and “cabbage” sounds kind of horrendous, but it’s so delicious and chances are you’ve had it on top of hot dogs already. My favorite way to eat sauerkraut is to grill up some chicken sausages and vegetables, and then serve with sauerkraut on the side! I love Trader Joe’s sauerkraut, which you can find in their meat section. I think it’s under $4.

4. Kombucha - So if I didn’t lose you at “fermented cabbage”, I may here. Kombucha is fermented tea, but I would relate it more to natural soda. It’s naturally lightly carbonated and is often sweetened with small amounts of fruit juices. You can buy kombucha in a variety flavors, and don’t be freaked by the “material” that accumulates in the glass bottle. Drink kombucha within a day or two of purchase, and most popular and common brands out there are GT’s Kombucha and Dr. Reed’s Kombucha. There’s a growing “local” kombucha scene - see a local LA brand of kombucha below!

5. Miso - Made from fermented soybeans! Make your own ginger-miso salad dressing, or order miso soup alongside your sushi.

6. Yogurt - Probably the most common and easy way of getting your probiotics, in Greek or regular form. Make sure to look for “active and live cultures” on the kind of yogurt you are purchasing. Some froyo places use live and active cultures in their product - that way, you get dessert AND probiotics! Enjoy eating yogurt for breakfast? Top if off with my Homemade Quinoa Oat Granola with Almonds and Flax Seeds to start your day off right.