By THE SIMPLE HOUSEWIFE
Kale has been quite a buzzword among the health conscious in recent times.
Many have jumped onto the bandwagon to include kale in their diet, and plenty of recipes using kale in various raw and cooked ways can be found – juices, salads, stir fried, chips, etc.
Kale is indeed a nutrient-laden vegetable for its low calorie count, carrying many types of important vitamins and minerals.
This vegetable, however, could be a little expensive especially if you buy the imported ones but recently I came across some from Cameron Highlands in a supermarket.
The ones I bought are the purplish version.
According to Healthline.com, there are many different types of kale. Their leaves can be either green or purple, smooth or curly in shape.
It is a cruciferous vegetable like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower and the stems are rather fibrous.
Kale salad with garlic butter pork* in rice bowl
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
300g lean pork/chicken/fish, sliced
1 tsp garlic powder
Dash of pepper
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp chopped coriander/parsley (optional)
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
5-6 stalks kale, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
1 apple, skinned, diced
1 tomato, diced
½ cup toasted walnuts/other nuts, roughly crushed
½-1 cup Japanese roasted sesame dressing, or salad dressing of your choice
Cooked rice
Method
1. Marinate pork slices with garlic powder, pepper and soy sauce for 15 minutes.
2. Heat butter in a pan, when melted, stir fry the meat slices until cooked. Add a little water to make it a bit wet but not too watery. Season with salt if necessary. When cooked, mix in some chopped coriander or parsley and set aside.
3. Combine the kale leaves, apple, tomato and nuts in a large bowl. Pour salad dressing over and toss to mix.
4. To serve, scoop desired amount of rice into a bowl. Place salad and cooked meat on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve and enjoy.
* You may substitute the garlic butter pork with chicken, beef or fish. They can also be cooked in other ways such honey-ginger-soy sauce, teriyaki or oyster sauce for example, or you could have sashimi-grade raw salmon or tuna.
