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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Miso Salad at California Pizza Kitchen


In the food mecca of San Francisco, I almost *never* go to a chain restaurant like California Pizza Kitchen because there are too many other unique options. But, I am a fan of the BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad (chopped lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, jicama, cilantro, basil, crispy corn tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese tossed together in a garden-herb ranch dressing and topped with chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes and scallions and then drizzled with BBQ sauce). Recently, I returned to CPK with some friends and discovered this new Miso Salad on the menu...

I am *hooked*. It is so ridiculously satisfying and delicious. I am now determined to make my own version at home (and so can you!).

INGREDIENTS:

* Shredded Napa cabbage
* Fresh avocado
* Julienne cucumbers
* Daikon
* Edamame
* Carrots
* Red cabbage
* Green onions
* Cilantro
* Crispy rice noodles
* Crispy wontons
* Miso dressing
(and you can order it with or without grilled chicken or blue crab & shrimp, but I like it vegetarian...)

There really isn't a recipe for this salad as far as proportions go--just go by feel and taste. Have some faith--it will be delicious.

*YUM*

Update: I was successful at making the BBQ chopped salad at home. So exciting! Now, you can too!

16 comments:

The Nesting Chinchilla said...

Morgan~ I love this salad too!! I'm trying to find a recipe for the miso dressing; I think that is the part I like so much! Do you have any suggestions for recipes or for store bought brands that are similar? Thanks!!

Morgan Lee said...

When I made this salad at home, I used a Miso dressing that my Japanese sister-in-law gave to me, (but I couldn't tell you what it is because I don't read Japanese). But I do have a couple of other favorites to recommend:

Galeos Miso

or a vegan miso dressing that is made from soy without dairy, cholesterol, eggs, wheat, gluten, or sugar!

Enjoy!

Dalia said...

This is so incredibly random. Did you know if you did a google search for "cpk miso salad recipe", your blog page is the first entry that comes up???!!!

Basically, I am obsessed with that salad, was telling my mom tonight that she needs to make it, I googled it, clicked on the first entry that popped up, saw your picture, and was like - omg, I went to Hastings with this girl! What a small virtual world...

Anyway, I absolutely love your blog. I already have it bookmarked ;) Hope you're doing well!

~Dalia Khalili~

Anonymous said...

Hi, How do you prepare the Cripsy rice noodles for the salad? I am not sure what Cilantro is. Is it the same as Corianda?

Morgan Lee said...

Sally: Crispy rice noodles are made from rice noodles or rice sticks that can be found in any asian supermarket. They vary in lengths and widths--look for thread like noodles. When you deep-fry these noodles in oil, they puff up in seconds, turn white like styrofoam and become delicate and crunchy. It does not have much of a flavor, but it used more for presentation and texture. Also, "cilantro" is the leaves of the coriander plant! While the cilantro leaves are quite popular and common in Asian and Mexican dishes, the dried coriander seeds are often ground and used in Indian dishes so you can see that the flavors are quite different despite the same plant origin. When I was living in Australia, the cilantro leaves are referred to as "coriander" too and this confused me quite a bit at first!

Anonymous said...

WOW! ^ ^ Thank you for this recipe! We've just been out to Safeway (to get most of the ingredients) and a Japanese Market (for the miso dressing), and it was just as good (if not, better!) than the CPK version! It was sooo yummy! Thanks again! ;D

Anonymous said...

Oh forgot to add. This was the miso dressing we bought and it is perfect!! http://www.redshell.com/images/product/miso_large.jpg

Stephanie said...

OH! So glad I found this recipe! I had this salad last week and could not get over it! So good! Thanks for posting it!

Angie B said...

I didn't know there was a fan club for cpk miso salad! Sign me up. I order it every time I go there! I am looking for a recipe for the miso dressing. I am glad to have found this blog. Lots of talk of a recipe but no recipe. I prefer homemade to store bought as I substitute raw honey or stevia for the sugar.

lmckdhu said...

Morgan~, I love this salad too. I discovered this Miso Salad at CPK in Mexico City, Polanco, on my business trip. I would like to have the recipes of the miso dressing. When I'm coming back to Montreal (Quebec), I will cook for my wife and my daughters...
Thanks for your wonderful blog...
please keep me post...

Best Regards,

/Kim

Unknown said...

Like the others that commented, I am obsessed with this salad. Thanks for posting the recipe

The Family Chef said...

You have inspired me to try to recreate the dressing. Try this one I just posted: http://thefamilychef.blogspot.com/2010/01/miso-salad-dressing-recipe.html

Morgan Lee said...

Oh, I am so glad you have found and/or created some dressing recipes! I was at CPK over the holidays and my mom asked for additional dressing on the side, which gave me an opportunity to see the color and consistency so now I might try to recreate it! It really is such a great salad...too bad their signature salads keep creeping up in price. I do feel a little strange about paying $14 for a large salad, but it does feed 3-4 people.

Anonymous said...

found your site today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..

danjal said...

Do you have the recipe for the CPK Miso Salad dressing/ I would love to have it.....thanks

lmckdhu said...

Here is almost like to CPK Miso dressing, I did it many time and my family love it:
Ingredients:
- 1 tea spool strong mustard
- 1 C to dessert of fresh lemon juice
- A bit of salt (depending on your taste)
- 1 tea spool of sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp mild miso (soybean paste) prefer Miko Brand – product of Japan
- 12.5 cl of extra virgin olive oil (about)
Preparation:
- In a bowl, mix mustard, lemon juice, salt, sugar. Add garlic and miso.
- Stir the oil in a thin thread while whipping up like mayonnaise.

Enjoy it and Cheers,

/Kim