It’s that time of the month again… the Secret Recipe Club is back!
This month, my assignment was none other than our fabulous Group A leader, Jane, whose blog The Heritage Cook is bursting at the seams with all sorts of delicious recipes (not to mention a great resource for learning about gluten-free eating, since Jane is gluten-intolerant and has made over many of her favourites with gluten-free variations).
I’m totally obsessed with dips and spreads, so I almost instantly chose the Ginger-Miso Sweet Pea Spread, which Jane adapted from Food and Wine, as my pick for this month. I just couldn’t resist the bright green colour, or the fact that it featured one of my favourite spring ingredients.
Though… as you might be able to guess from the title of my post, I may have taken a few liberties with the original along the way.
I honestly meant to play it straight this month and just follow the original recipe for a change, but it seems that the universe had different plans for me. When I reached into the grocery store freezer to grab a bag of sweet peas, my hand happened to brush against a bag of shelled edamame beans sitting prettily one shelf down, and I knew instantly that I was meant to buy them instead. It was fate. Kismet. Serendipity.
From there, the recipe just kept moving in an ever-more-Asian direction – the store was out of jalapenos, so I swapped them for a red hot chile instead, and they were also out of yellow miso, so I subbed in its slightly milder counterpart, white miso. And, never being one to take it easy on the ginger, I used double the amount of the original.
Which, to make a long story short, is how I eventually ended up with this Ginger-Miso Edamame Spread instead.
Despite all my meddling, I’m pleased to say this one is a winner. Like apples and cinnamon, strawberries and rhubarb, or tomatoes and basil, edamame and miso are two flavours that are so much better together than they are apart… the nutty undertone of the edamame is echoed by the slight nuttiness of the miso, while the salty umami of the miso contrasts against the starchy green of the edamame, creating surprisingly complex layers of flavour for a dish with so few ingredients.
And best of all, it’s stupidly easy to make, which makes it a perfect spring party appetizer – you can use it to make crostini by slathering it generously onto thin slices of baguette, as I did here, or simply spoon it into a pretty bowl and surround it with crackers, pita chips or a variety of vegetable for dipping.
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- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 red hot chile, seeded and minced
- 3 cups shelled edamame beans (thawed, if frozen)
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup white miso
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the scallions, ginger and chile, and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the edamame and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes or until the edamame are bright green and tender. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes or so.
- Spoon the cooled edamame mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Add miso and water, and process until pureed and smooth.
- Transfer the pea mixture to a food processor and let cool slightly. Add the water and miso, and puree until smooth. Serve immediately, or cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve (up to 3 days).
What a delicious, nutritious and wonderful way to welcome Spring! YUMMMERS!
:)
V
beautiful! and i have never been one to take it easy on the ginger, and mostly love anything asian or asian-inspired. I doubt i even need to tell you how much i love dips and spreads…i could go on all day here. i love it. i’ll have to make this sometime when other people are coming over, as i could polish this entire thing off myself.
This sounds great! I recently bought some miso paste to use for chicken recipe of mine and now I want to use it in everything. Putting this recipe on the list… :)
What a great spread. I love eating edamame but never had it in a spread form, the added flavors are wonderful.
I am pretty sure I’ve never had or used miso–this sounds delicious. Great photos!
Gahh, I’m totally obsessed with dips and spreads too. This one looks awesome, something different!
This looks so fresh and flavorful.
I keep seeing edamame in the freezer at the store and keep meaning to find a recipe to use them in. This dish looks delicious. Your pictures are fantastic!
This sounds really easy and healthy. I want to try it now! I love edamame, the flavors sound just perfect. Thanks for sharing for SRC!
I just made an edamame-goat cheese dip the other day for lunch. I love the Asian twist you put on this. Definitely trying this next time!
This looks AMAZING! Your photos are stellar. Now I need to add some miso to the shopping list because this needs to be made ASAP!
Yum! I can imagine this being super tasty!
Looks so simple and yummy! I will be trying this – I love edamame :-)
what a delicious spread!
This sounds really unique!!! Need to try soon!
Brilliant changes! I cannot wait to make your version and I’m sure it will be even better than mine. I love that you took it even more toward Asian flavors. So smart!!! Thanks for your kind words and I’m glad you enjoyed my site. Yours is one of my favorites!!
Also, your photos are exquisite! So inspiring and beautiful!
Omg, yes to this recipe! Definitely making this when it’s edamame picking time!
I love the combination of flavors. I bookmarked it and pinned it :)
Yum- this looks really interesting and delicious!
No cook recipe – perfect for summer!!! I love the pop of color!
This looks fantastic – such great color!! :)
That looks great! How did you manage to keep so green!
I am totally addicted to hummus and have always seen edamame spread at Trader Joe’s. But the idea of one flavored with both ginger and miso sounds so much better.
Both the original and the adaptation sound fantastic, Isabelle! Definitely something I would love to serve and eat. Ginger and miso are hard to beat in my book!
This looks delicious I am going to save this recipe. Pictures are great!