Kale Salad with Togarashi

Kale Salad with Togarashi

Kale Salad with Togarashi, Apple, Sweet Nuts, and Cranberries

Kale Salad with Togarashi, Apples, Pecorino, Sweet Almonds and Dried Cranberries

This is one of my favorite salads. With Kale being one of the highest nutrient rich foods (and ANDI score of 1000), I try to squeeze this in my dinners as often as possible. The most important thing with kale is that you can’t have it dry, it really needs a lot of love, which translates to oil! First you needs to make sure your kale is washed, which sometimes, takes wiping down the front and back of every leaf. You then need to completely dry it, because as well all know, oil and water don’t mix. Next you have the remove larger ribs that run down the center. Then you cut all of the leafs off. Try to keep them in large pieces. You then stack a series of leaves and roll them, like rolling a cigar. You will have a tightly wound up spiral of leaves. You then cut ⅛” thick (or thin) so you have small strands of leaves, like in photo above. Once all of the leaves have been nicely cut into thin and long pieces, place them into a bowl. Now you give it some love, pour in the EVO Oil into a bowl and toss around so that all of the pieces get a nice coating of oil, this is what softens it up. Next add apples, dried cranberries, chopped sweet almonds, pecorino and toss well to cover all ingredients in oil. Your last step is to add the Japanese red pepper (Togarashi). I would add this slowly, then toss around and see how much is enough for your individual taste. Some people love the red pepper spice, others have less tolerance for hot foods (like my husband). It does contain a bit of salt, so just keep tasting to see if you need additional salt in your salad.

Ingredients:

  • Large bunch of Curly Kale
  • 2 tbsp EVOO (olive oil)
  • 1 Gala Apple (thinly sliced)
  • ⅓ cup Dried Cranberries
  • ⅓ cup Sweet almonds (chopped)
  • ½ cup of shredded pecorino cheese
  • ½-1 tsp Togarashi (Japanese Spice)
  • ¼ tsp salt (optional)
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Curly Kale

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Kale with ribs removed

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Rolled Kale leaves rolled

I also found some interesting information about Kale from Dr. Perlmutter (author of Grain Brain). I have included it here, but you can also visit this link to read the rest.

Kale, a member of the cabbage family, is power packed with vitamins A, K, C, with meaningful amounts of B vitamins as well as trace minerals. It’s low in carbs and calories. Kale is rich in a chemical called sulforaphane, and this may be one of kale’s most important health attributes.

Sulforaphane is a sulfur-rich chemical that activates a gene pathway in animals as well as humans called Nrf2, and when Nrf2 is turned on by consuming sulforaphane rich foods, several important health-promoting mechanisms are accentuated. These include a reduction in inflammation, enhanced antioxidant protection, and powerful amplification of our ability to detoxify potential damaging chemicals.

Apple “Rose” Tarts

Apple “Rose” Tarts

Apple Rose tarts

So I found this video online and tried the recipe. Here is Tip Hero’s Video. I made some slight alterations to it, but they turned out incredible. Thank you Tip Hero!

Ingredients: 

  • 4 apples, cored and halved (leave the skin on)
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 6 Tbsp apricot preserves*
  • 2 sheets of pie crust*
  • Cinnamon and sugar mixture* (equal parts)
  • Powdered sugar*

* Items with Asterix have been changed from original Video.

Instructions:

  • Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
  • I used my food processor* (Breville Sous Chef) with the adjustable slicing blade) – took less than 30 seconds and the slices were all equal. Put apple slices in microwave safe bowl. Fill bowl with water and juice from half a lemon. Use enough water to make sure apple slices are covered by water. Microwave for 3 minutes. This will soften the apple slices and make them more pliable for rolling up.
  • Next grab a sheet of pie crust sheet. Flour your board and roll out the pie crust enough to make 6 strips at 3 inches wide. I scored and cut mine with a pizza wheel put you can use a knife.
  • Spoon out the preserves in the center of the strip of puff pastry.
  • Next place the apple slices long ways halfway on the strip. Keep adding slices until you reach the end. Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Then fold the puff pastry over the bottom of the apple slices.
  • Roll up the puff pastry and place in a greased muffin tin.
  • Bake the apple roses for 35-45 minutes.
  • Pull out of oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
  • Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of each rose. Can also be served with Vanilla ice cream or Brown Sugar Sauce (recipe coming soon).

Here are some more photos of my Apple Rose Batch:

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Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Perfect wood planks background with nice studio lighting and beautiful vignetting to draw the eyes into the picture

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of soy sauce
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 6 cloves of crushed garlic
  • 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 2-3 pork tenderloins

Directions:

In a mixing bowl whisk brown sugar with soy sauce until brown sugar dissolves. Slowly add in the olive oil, whisking to prevent emulsifying. Add in the garlic and ginger. Place all ingredients into a large ziplock bag and add the tenderloins to the bag. Make sure all parts of the tenderloins are covered with the marinade. Marinate in the fridge for up to 2-3 days (but not longer than 3, as the pork will get too salty). Remove Pork from the bag and place the reserve the sauce in a sauce pan. Grill the pork on high heat (on BBQ Grill) or broil the pork, to get a nice crust on the outside. You can also sear the pork in an iron skillet to get a nice crusty outside, then bake at 350 degrees until internal temperature reaches 140. I like my pork medium rare, so I normally pull it out at 135 (internal temp), and let rest 5-10 minutes until it reaches 140. This is great served with Asian Slaw and Sesame Sushi Rice with Cucumbers and Avocado, or sautéed ginger carrots. Optional – Slice meat on to each place and sprinkle with apples (instructions below).

Sauce:

  • remainder marinade from above
  • 1 cup chicken stock/broth
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 3 tbsp water

While the pork in cooking, cook the marinade on medium-high heat, so you cook down any of the raw pork juice. Add in the broth, and cook down till reduced by half. In a cup combine the flour and water, mixing so it turns into a paste, making sure there are no clumps. Slowly whisk in the flour to pan, making sure there are no clumps. Your sauce will be come thicker, if it becomes too thick, add some more chicken broth. Pour over sliced pork loin.

A little added accouterment: Sautéed apples with butter and brown sugar.

  • 1 apple chopped into ½” cubes
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar

Place butter in iron skillet until it bubbles, add in the apple and toss in pan for 4 minutes, add in the brown sugar until melted and covering apples. Add the apples to the pork.

 

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