Miso

Flip the script on a winter vegetable that's usually stewed: Collards are great when briefly sautéed.

The root vegetables in this dish have a secret umami booster: miso paste. This recipe also offers a delicious way to use those oft-discarded beet and turnip greens. If you can’t find beets or turnips with greens, simply reduce the amount of each vegetable to 1/2 pound.

"Coating sweet grilled corn with miso butter brings nutty flavor to a classic." —Brad Leone

Miso and hot pepper paste are at the root of every ssam sauce, but no two household's are the same. Tweak it to your liking.

BOILING OR STEAMING bok choy often results in a watery, stringy vegetable. But grilling halved heads of bok choy slathered with miso butter leads to pure flavor. Be sure to keep the heat at medium so the paste can caramelize without burning. My first few attempts at grilling bok choy (I used Shanghai bok choy) resulted in charred leaves that were too crisp to enjoy. Now I separate the leaves from the stalks and use them raw in a salad that wilts under the heat of the grilled vegetable. Use white or yellow miso paste in this recipe. If you use a darker miso, know that it will be saltier. Make this side dish when you are already firing up the grill for the main course.

If the vibrancy of this dressing fades, perk it back up with more lime juice.

This salad's secret? Combining raw and roasted beets delivers two textures from one ingredient.

Oh lentils, what can't you do? Here they join forces with miso to create a flavorful, silky gravy that you'll want to pour over everything. You have my permission to do so, but let's start here: with quinoa, sautéed seitan, and broccoli that's steamed perfectly, still crispy and bright. For a more organic feel, tear the seitan into bite-size pieces with your hands instead of slicing it with a knife. You'll have more gravy than you need, but reserve the rest for sopping up with toast or biscuits for breakfast.

Umami-loaded ingredients (tofu and miso) make this the most addictive ranch ever.

Like the best dressings, this is good on so much more than greens: Drizzle it on roasted sweet potatoes, brush it onto broiled eggplant, or toss it with cold soba or udon noodles. Use it to marinate mushrooms before grilling them to make Juicy Bella . Look for miso paste in the refrigerated section of natural food stores and Asian markets. If you can find South River brand, made in Massachusetts, snap it up; it's the best I've tasted outside Japan.

White miso might sound like the kind of ingredient that sends you in search of a specialty store, but in fact it is the most common type of miso paste, and you're likely to find it in the international or Asian food section of the supermarket. It's a lighter, sweeter alternative to dark miso, which is generally used in soup, and it often appears in dressings like the one for this easy Japanese noodle salad. You can make the dressing in the time it takes to cook the soba, and if you add some thinly sliced cooked chicken, beef, or shrimp, you'll have a one-dish meal.

The miso marinade lightly cures the fish, which results in a pleasantly firm texture and great flavor.

The Japanese are renowned for their longevity. As of 2011, their average life expectancy was 82.3 years. (The United States came in fiftieth, at 78.4 years.) Researchers often credit their diet, and this soup is my way of cramming as much of their healthy cuisine into a bowl as possible. It's called Bento Box Soup because of the traditional Japanese take-out bento box lunch, which is full of compartments, each containing a tasty treat: fish or meat, rice, pickled or cooked veggies, and other goodies. The base is a miso broth; if you're not in the know about miso, it's a salty fermented soy product that aids digestion and improves immune function. In case white miso isn't available, use any mellow (light) miso. I kicked those healing properties up a notch by infusing green tea into the broth for an extra immune boost, then added shiitakes, spinach, kombu, scallions, and tamari.

Sam Hazen, the former executive chef of New York celebrity hangout Tao, created this broiled fish dish seasoned with the Japanese trifecta of sake, mirin, and miso. A great riff on beef satay, this appetizer can be marinated up to a day ahead for a quick weeknight snack or full meal when served with rice. Avoid unsustainable Chilean sea bass; look for white sea bass from California, black cod, Pacific or Alaskan halibut, or striped bass.

This dish draws on both Mediterranean and Asian influences and uses the very different flavors of sage, miso, and nori in complementary ways. It's a brain-healthy recipe: legumes such as lentils are a key component of the Mediterranean diet, both kale and onions are good sources of polyphenol antioxidants, and sweet potato supplies a dose of beta-carotene.

Lentils and fresh and dried mushrooms give this vegetarian casserole its meaty character. You can prepare most of it in advance and bake it just before your guests arrive.

この味は驚くばかりである! We make White Miso ice cream in the summer with peaches, in the fall with apples, and in the winter with pears. Alice Waters would be so proud of us . . . you know, if she knew who we were. Doing a flavor with miso was a natural and logical extension of our love for savory elements in our ice creams. Miso is a thick traditional Japanese soy paste that's often used as a condiment or a flavor ingredient in cooking, and it's been growing in popularity as an ingredient in desserts. Since miso is so salty, this is one of the few recipes in the book that doesn't call for added salt or vinegar. In his search to get the flavors right, Jake went to a Japanese supermarket and bought pretty much every kind of miso in the joint: red miso, mixed miso, rice miso, purple miso, soy-only miso, miso-horny, and so on. He eventually settled on a white style. White miso is much more delicate than its counterparts. It's mellow. He still doesn't know what the label says, but boy, it sure gets the job done. White Miso is another "Wow" flavor, with distinct umami undertones that pair well with the seasonal tree fruits. It also goes secretly well with a scoop of Guinness Gingerbread, or simply a little splash of olive oil on top. Inspiration: Jake used to serve miso apple butter with crepes and olive oil ice cream.

"At Linger, we make jam with miso. It's delicious with pork but is especially tasty on bread with cream cheese."

Miso is a quick way to add deep, rich savory character to your cooking.