Asian Kale Salad with Seared Pork Chops
peanut dressing / Asian pears / celery
People loved this peanut dressing so much, we're bringing it back in a whole different way. Everyone will love the dynamic sweet, salty, and crunch of this hearty, cold weather salad served up with piping hot pork chops.
Smarts: One easy way to 'winter-fy' salads is to add a warm protein to make it feel more comforting.
Ingredients
- Pork chops (<1" thick) - 1 lb
- Baby kale - 11 oz (sub 1 bunch kale, stems removed)
- Celery - 4 ribs, julienned or sliced
- Asian pears - 2, julienned or sliced (sub other pear)
- Peanuts - 1/2 cup
- Ginger - 1 inch, grated
- Peanut butter - 1/4 cup (creamy is preferred, but crunchy will also work)
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 3 Tbsp
- Rice vinegar - 2 Tbsp
- Honey - 2 Tbsp
- Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp
- Sriracha (or other hot sauce) - 1 Tbsp
- Lime - 1, juice of
Nutrition Facts
Prep
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Pork chops - Season with salt and pepper and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
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Make dressing - Grate ginger. Soften peanut butter in the microwave for ~30 seconds. Mix with ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, cooking oil, Sriracha (or other hot sauce), and lime juice. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Dress kale - Dress kale with half of the dressing. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to soften the kale.
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Celery / Asian pear - Prep as directed.
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Make
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Heat a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush with some oil and then place pork chops on heated oil. Sear on each side for ~3 minutes. For thin pork chops, this should be enough heat to cook them through. If you’re using thicker pork chops, lower heat and cover with a piece of foil until pork reaches 145F (or 63C) degrees. When done, let pork rest for ~5 minutes before slicing.
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Add celery, Asian pear, and peanuts to dressed kale. Toss and portion out the salad. Top with pork slices and drizzle remainder of the dressing over pork.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
60 reviews
Grownup salad, indeed! Never really got "into" the whole kale thing but tried it here. Yummy!
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