Pork Belly with Salad. Crispy, succulent, flavorful pork belly on top of a kale salad. Delicious!

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Delicious Salads at Home

I’ll admit. I don’t make salads as often as I should at home.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy salads – I absolutely love them. When I’m eating out I tend to order a salad – but at home, not so much. All the prep work for what I want as a quick meal turns me off.

Eat Smart sent me five varieties of their Gourmet Vegetable Salad Kits and I loved everyone of them! It’s hard to pick a favorite! Each unique salad kit has so much flavor, so much crunch – so much more than just lettuce and carrots. Perfect for an appetizer, snack, lunch or dinner – it just got so much easier to eat a quick, nutritious and delicious meal at home.

Personally, I love greens and have been trying to work more kale into my meals. The Eat Smart Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad Kit is everything! Loaded with superfoods this salad contains kale, green cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, chicory, roasted pumpkin seeds & dried cranberries – completed with a delicious poppy seed dressing.

I’ve heard many people say that kale is too tough for everyday salads – but there’s a simple trick to remedy that. Chop it up in small bite size pieces and toss it in dressing about ten minutes before serving. The dressing softens the kale up just enough. Luckily, the prep work here is already done.

Pork Belly

On such a green salad…I needed some fatty protein. Sorry, but not sorry.

Pork Belly. If you’re not so familiar with pork belly – it’s the oh-so glorious cut of meat that bacon and pancetta are made of. It’s beautiful, it’s rich, it’s indulgent – it’s a cut of meat made for a king or a queen.  

Being such a rich & fatty food – it’s best served in small pieces. Like on top of my salad 😉

Thing is, you might not be able to find pork belly at your local grocer. It’s more a specialty cut of meat.  

One of the benefits of living in a farming community is that it’s easy to source fresh meat. My local butcher shop had a fresh, whole 12 pound pork belly. I trimmed it down into one pound pieces & froze.

Try a farmers market, a specialty butcher shop or an Asian grocery store – they usually sell it sliced in 1-2 pound pieces.

You can also order online & have it delivered to your door. I’ve found a great source – click here to shop heritage breed, sustainably raised, no antibiotics, Non-GMO & hormone free pork belly!

Pork belly isn’t hard to make. Plan ahead, though. This recipe uses a dry rub that will have to rest for a few hours – ideally overnight. It’s pretty hands off, so I usually make it first thing in the morning.

Roast it on high heat for a few minutes and then on low heat for an additional hour or two. Cool it, and then slice it as needed and pan fry. Oh my goodness – it’s delicious. Heavenly.

Thanks so much for stopping by – hope you enjoy!

Amanda ♥

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Kale Salad with Roasted Pork Belly

Amanda

Pork Belly with Salad. Crispy, succulent, flavorful pork belly on top of a kale salad. Delicious! The pork belly needs to be made the day ahead & chilled so plan ahead.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 12 hours hrs

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 14 hours hrs

Course Pork, Salad

Servings 1 -3 pounds

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• For Pork Belly:
• piece of fresh pork belly skin removed, 1-3 pound piece
• 1 tablespoon salt per pound
• 1 tablespoon sugar per pound
• pepper
• For Salad:
• Eat Smart Sweet Kale Vegetable Salad Kit
• apple sliced or diced
• handful of crushed pecans or walnuts

Instructions

 

• For Pork Belly:
• Season the belly with the salt, sugar and a sprinkle of pepper. Cover and let sit about 8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
• Cook at 450° for half an hour. Lower heat to 275° and cook for an additional hour or two. It should be tender but not mushy.
• Remove from oven and let cool to room temp. Tightly wrap roasted pork belly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled through. At least a few hours and up to a couple days.
• When needed, slice into pieces of desired thickness and panfry in a drizzle of oil until brown.
• For Salad:
• About 10 minutes before serving, toss dressing with salad.
• Sprinkle cranberry, pumpkin seeds, apple & walnuts over top.
• Top with desired amount of pork belly and serve.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!