I had a soy salmon and kale salad at a gluten-free restaurant in New York City during February vacation week, when we cat-sat in Brooklyn while an old friend visited with family in Nicaragua. We had an incredible week, filled with fun adventures with the kids, and had delicious bites of food throughout our time there. But I’ll be frank, the kale salad, which sounded so good on paper, needed some quick fixes.
First, the salad: Kale, red quinoa, pickled shredded beets and carrots, edamame, avocado and soy-lacquered salmon bites, all pulled together with a soy dressing. Sounds yummy, right? Well, as it turned out, the kale was curly, and not massaged. The dressing was served on the side.
When I recreated it in my own kitchen, I used a bunch of lacinato kale that I had destemmed and shredded into ribbons. I made a quick dressing with tamari, lime juice and maple syrup, and gave the ribbons a deep massage for about five minutes. The other change I made was to the fish. My 10-year-old isn’t a salmon fan, but loves cod. So, as to only cook one fish for this meal — and yes, I have cooked two separate types of fish for dinner, at times — I went all in with some cod loin that was on sale at the market.
I had been holding onto a miso glaze for black cod in my recipes for over a year, and it was time to deploy it. But first, a quick change: replacing the white sugar with maple syrup.
The results were fantastic. The glazed fish was so good that my husband, normally a devoted carnivore, suggested we try out the glaze on tofu the next night. So we did. And it was incredible! A friend who came over later that week was shocked at how much she enjoyed the glazed tofu — made for a second time in three days — and wondered how each slice was so flavorful. The trick, my husband proudly revealed, was that he scored the top of the tofu to let the glaze penetrate more. He says he saw the technique on Instagram somewhere.
Red-Miso Glaze for Fish and Tofu
Ingredients:
1 cup miso, preferably dark
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1/2 cup mirin
1 ½-2 pounds cod, fillets or loin, or
1 package of firm tofu, drained
Directions:
Mix together the first three ingredients in a bowl.
Using a brush, apply the glaze liberally to the protein.
Broil for about 10 minutes (or until the cod is cooked through), reapplying the glaze halfway through.
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.