Grecian Berry Summer Salad with Cornbread Croutons

Salad, fruit, and cold food in general are my go-to meals during the summer because sometimes grilled chicken is just too hot for those scorching temperatures. This salad combines some of my favorite food: kale, berries, and CORNBREAD! That’s right, cornbread.

I recently took an impromptu trip to Charleston, SC with my bestie, Sam. We ate dinner at the well-known Magnolia’s and started with their Caesar salad complete with cornbread croutons. They were the best croutons I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried to replicate them ever since. This was my third and best attempt at making these croutons, so I decided to blog it with my tried and true method.  I hope you get the same results too!

Now, I also have another method for cooking with or just eating raw kale. And that’s to massage it with some olive oil beforehand. Massaging olive oil into kale removes the bitterness of the green to allow for other flavors in the meal to excel and also softens it’s rough exterior for easier chewing. Even Dr. Mendoza, my old dentist-boss who loathes kale, enjoyed it only when it was massaged.

That being said, I massaged this kale and added Greek dressing to the salad as well. The olive oil doesn’t affect the taste much, but it does add to the experience of eating kale as a whole, especially since many people dislike kale for its bitterness. One extra tip too: buy your fresh kale while it’s still on the vein and not in a bag. It’s usually fresher and typically less bitter for some reason. Maybe the kale is from different regions… I don’t know. Don’t ask me. I just tell ya what I taste. Like this super easy and yummy fresh salad recipe!!

Ingredients:

1. 2 c raw kale
2. 1 T Greek vinaigrette
3. 1/2 c mixture of blueberries and blackberries
4. 2 t olive oil
5. 1/2 box of Jiffy’s corn bread mix
6. 1 egg
7. 1/3 c milk
8. 1/2 T ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Follow instructions on box to make cornbread mix
2. Spray oil into a baking dish
3. Pour corn bread mix into the baking dish, creating a short layer of mix
4. Bake in oven until cornbread is golden
5. Let cornbread cool
6. De-vein kale and cut into medium-sized pieces
7. Massage 1 T olive oil into raw kale thoroughly
8. Refrigerate kale for 10-60 minutes to let olive oil soak in
9. While refrigerating the kale, use a bread knife to cut the cornbread into small cubes
10. Add corn bread cube to a mixing bowl and add remaining olive oil to the bowl
11. Also add ground pepper and toss until all of the cubes are lightly coated with olive oil and pepper
12. Broil the corn bread until crispy- watch them carefully as they burn quickly!
13. Let croutons cool a little
14. Wash and dry berries
15. Add berries to kale
16. Add croutons to kale
17. Top with Greek vinaigrette
18. Enjoy!

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!