Spicy Coconut Orange Salmon with Shredded Seasoned Kale

Having stopped work about a month ago, I’ve began watching more TV. Cliché right? Well, yes. But I’ve recently started seasons of Master Chef and Master Chef Junior that I hadn’t seen before. While too much television is never good for you, these shows inspired me to restart my blog while I still have time (aka before Hell- I mean dental school- starts). I am just amazed at how talented and creative some of these home cooks can be.

So, I told myself if I ever want to be one of them, I better start practicing. This dish was actually inspired by one of the chefs on MC Jr. who prepared a coconut crusted duck breast with an orange glaze reduction. Now, I didn’t have duck and I wanted to add a little spice to this, so I improvised and created my own recipe marrying the island coconut crust with a heated orange and Sriracha glaze finish. Then I topped it off with sauteed, finely chopped kale also seasoned with chipotle spices and fresh coconut shreds.

This meal is perfect for a hot summer night, which seems to be the trend these days in North Carolina!

Ingredients:

1. 2 filets salmon
2. 1 egg
3. 1/2 c coconut flour
4. 1 orange, freshly juiced
5. Shredded raw coconut pieces
6. 2 t Sriracha sauce
7. 4 c raw kale, deveined
8. 1 t chipotle seasoning
9. Dash crushed red peppers
10. Coconut oil for frying

Instructions:

1. Beat egg in a shallow flat dish
2. Pour coconut flour into a shallow, flat dish
3. Dip salmon into egg mixture
4. Transfer salmon from egg mixture to coconut flour and coat on both sides
5. Heat up a decent amount of coconut oil into a frying pan and squeeze orange juice into pan as well
6. Let orange juice reduce partially into a syrup
7. Place salmon in frying pan
8. Squirt Sriracha sauce on salmon filets
9. Squeeze fresh orange juice onto salmon as it fries
10. You can even add some pulp of the orange to the pan if you would like
11. Flip salmon over and repeat steps 7-9
12. Fry salmon until it pulls apart easily with a fork, seared on the outside and pink on the inside
13. Sauté kale in olive oil in a separate pan
14. Add dash of salt and chipotle seasoning to kale
15. Transfer kale to a food processor and process until chopped into fine pieces
16. Plate kale with salmon on top
17. Sprinkle raw coconut pieces on salmon
18. Add an orange slice to the plate for extra fresh orange juice on top of the salmon right before eating
19. Enjoy!