Avocado with Miso Mustard

I'm super excited to share this rich, earthy avocado salad with you today! It may not be the prettiest thing to behold, but this salad is substantial enough to be a meal sandwiched between two slices of bread or served over a bed of cauliflower rice. The thing is, it's not the recipe that I'm most excited about; it's 2 components of the recipe.

The first is miso mustard. At first, it may sound like an odd combo, but it's no stranger than honey mustard, and the mixture is magically good. I've used it to dress the avocado here, along with a bit of lemon juice, but it makes for a tasty marinade for fish and chicken, and it's also delicious in stir-fries.

The key is to use Saikyo Miso (a.k.a. shiromiso), a cream-colored miso that's naturally sweet from the high percentage of rice koji used to make it, and the very short fermentation time (2-3 weeks). Although shiromiso means "white miso" in Japanese, it's a little confusing outside of Japan because many brands mislabel their yellow miso as "white miso."

The second technique is a method I use to turn thinly sliced dry-cured hams such as Prosciutto or Jamón Serrano into crispy chips. It's as simple as putting the ham on a few sheets of paper towels and then microwaving it until the moisture evaporates, leaving the ham ridiculously crispy and flavorful. It can be a bit salty on its own, but it's a delicious way to add texture and umami to salads and pasta.