Nuta-Caramelized Chicken & Squash

Author Notes

If you've never heard of it before, nuta is a miso dressing that adds bright-yellow intrigue to otherwise simply prepared greens (blanched) or seafood (boiled). To be a “nuta” requires only the presence of white miso and vinegar. But the first nuta I ever tasted was a nuta with mustard, and upon tasting it, I wondered a) why you would ever leave the mustard out, and b) how I could make up for all this lost time pre-nuta. The first taste will remind you of honey mustard: puckery, a little sweet, a little spicy, and unmistakably yellow-mustard-y. But then, the sweetness is tempered—by the funky miso, sharp sake, and sharper rice wine vinegar. Definitely an awesome combination that should no longer be ignored for weeknight cooking and beyond.

The recipe below, for a sheet pan chicken and squash dinner, shows off nuta in two of my favorite ways: caramelized, transformed by heat, and raw, tossed with bitter greens. It also features rice vinegar, sake, and mirin. But you can also just keep it simple. Slather the nuta onto a fluffy baguette, with mayo, pickles, ribbons of turkey, and top with shredded lettuce. Or toss spicy salad greens (arugula, frisée, or radicchio are all welcome here) with crisped bacon, some of the bacon fat, and a spoonful of nuta. Whatever you choose to do with your verison of nuta, definitely let me know in the comments below. The possibilities for nuta are endless, and once you have a taste, you'll understand why. —Coral Lee