kale, fennel & blue cheese salad with pomegranate poached pear.

this is an “out-of-my-comfort-zone” recipe for sure.

but that’s what the new year is all about, eh?!

in fact, one of my many goals for this year (and last year, too) is to cook a new-to-me recipe every week that i wouldn’t normally make, or something with flavors that i don’t generally cook with.

this salad doesn’t exactly fall into that category since this is something i made up for my own blog, but i am basically killing this particular goal so far for the year, and it’s only january 8th. by the end of this day, i will have made 4 or 5 “new-to-me” recipes since last week. mostly from the bon appétit universe, surprise surprise!!!!!

i only cooked with fennel for the first time a few months ago when i made this grandma style pizza. sooo delicious. and wow, i always thought fennel would be ridiculously licorice-y, but it’s so so subtle and pleasant. and the bulb part is just a great crunch. also, i’m one of them black licorice loving freaks, so what was i waiting for anyway?

and dem pears doe…….full disclosure, these were a holiday gift from a family member. pears are neither peter’s or my favorite of fruits, so i wanted to at least get creative with them. sure, i ate a plain pear cut up with some honey & cinnamon, but overall, pears are just barely luke warm excitement for me. even less so for peter, haha.

but then i got to thinking (carrie bradshaw style)…..i couldn’t help but wonder…..meanwhile, in another kitchen across town…..

…..if i never come up with recipes using things i would normally not make or use for myself, i’m only stifling my own learning and creativity.

so i will try to get out of my cooking comfort zone more often!

however, i’m sorry to say that you’ll probably never see any seafood recipes on this website because that’s just crossing the line for me. plus, it would be quite fake of me to suddenly sing the praises of fish. but who knows, i could someday have a change of heart and/or taste buds.

ps. i feel extremely seen by this jim gaffigan bit about seafood.

pears are pretty, i’ll give it to em.

and i do have very fond memories of climbing pear trees growing up at my babysitter’s house, plucking off a crisp one and taking a few bites before throwing it to the ground.

also, pomegranate molasses! i made 2 recipes with it in the same day!

i have two bottles of it in our pantry and i’m glad i’m finally making use of it. it’s so delicious and tangy!

the char and tang of the pomegranate molasses on the pear is super tasty.

this is one of those salads where you must get one of each flavor/texture component in each bite!

ALSO! my never-before-blogged-about homemade go-to vinaigrette is a part of this recipe. you should certainly be making this vinaigrette in large quantities to keep in the fridge for all your new year salad-ing, it’s the best!

Kale, Fennel & Blue Cheese Salad with Pomegranate Poached Pear

Serves 3-4

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Poached Pears & Salad:

• 2-3 large firm pears - cut in half, seeds removed (removing pear skin is optional)

• 1 TB butter or coconut oil

• 1/8 - 1/4 cup white wine

• 3 TB pomegranate molasses

• 1-2 Meyer lemons or regular lemon, cut in half

• 3-4 large kale leaves - washed, dried & torn

• 1 TB olive oil

• 1/8 of a fennel bulb, sliced, plus some fennel fronds

• 1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles

• 1/3 cup chopped pistachios

• kosher salt, to taste

Go-To Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 TB apple cider vinegar

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 1 small shallot, minced & rinsed

• 1 TB dijon mustard

• pinch of kosher salt & black pepper

Instructions -

Wash and dry all the produce. Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking all ingredients in a small bowl, or shaking in a jar until combined. Store the unused vinaigrette in a jar in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Place the torn or cut kale in a large bowl, drizzling with 1 TB olive oil and massaging well with your hands for 1-2 minutes. Add a pinch of kosher salt and toss again.

Slice the fennel and chop pistachios.

Heat the butter or coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat until it bubbles and barely begins to brown. Place the halved pears cut side down in the pan and let the pears and butter simmer together for 3-5 minutes, depending how firm or soft you’d like your final product. Reduce heat and add the white wine to the pan. Allow the wine to bubble and settle before drizzling the pomegranate molasses over the pears.

Bring heat back to medium. Gently lift the edge of each pear to let the liquid underneath and coat the pan. After 3-5 minutes, gently check to see if the pears are browning and getting slightly charred from the pomegranate molasses. You want the pears to still be slightly firm when you remove them from the pan. Place them cooked side up on a plate and set aside.

Press the halved Meyer lemons into the pomegranate molasses mixture in the skillet for a few minutes until charred.

Add the fennel and blue cheese crumbles to the bowl of tenderized kale and toss well. Add the desired amount of vinaigrette and toss gently again until all leaves are dressed.

Serve up the salad in bowls or on plates, topping with chopped pistachios and extra blue cheese crumbles, if desired. Tuck a halved pear and charred Meyer lemon into each serving.

Squeeze the lemon over the top of everything, including the pear, before eating.

Serve pears immediately!

Leftover kale salad can be stored in the fridge for 24-48 hours.

qp

browned butter butternut, kale, crouton & bacon bake with garlic goat cheese sauce.

hellooooo, redundo alliteration recipe title of the year! there’s just no other way to put it.

i should spell crouton with a ‘K’. cuz that would be…kool. i had to mention the croutons in the title because THEY ARE NOT TO BE SKIPPED in this dish!

ok yum. i invented this in my head because i had a butternut squash i needed to use. turns out to be a perfect thanksgiving-esque side dish, or a dinner of its own.

for this, there’s a lot of cooking individual items, but they each get cooked in the same exact pan in a very methodical step-by-step process. so, read the recipe first, lol.

butternut squash is terrifying to cut - feel free to use pre-chopped cubes. however, i feel that you get more when you start from a whole squash. but please be careful!!

the one-third cup of butter in this recipe may seem like a lot, but it actually gets used in both tenderizing the butternut squash as well as toasting the sourdough bread croutons.

the remainder of the browned butter after cooking the squash gets ALL absorbed into the sourdough croutons and THAT. IS. WHAT. MAKES. THIS. SO. GOOD. after you salt them, of course. it was hard not to just stand there and eat all those browned buttery, toasty, salty sourdough bits right out of the pan.

then, the kale & bacon share a cooking arena. in the same pan that the bread was just in! don’t dirty up a zillion pans, people. only one large pan is necessary.

cook the bacon. let the bacon drain on a paper towel. then cook the chopped kale in the bacon grease until just tender and super bright green. beautiful.

other tasty add-ins!

toss all the elements in a big bowl and transfer them to the baking dish where they’ll all mingle and get hot togetha. ow owww! add most of the crouton bits on the very top because you want those to get a touch crispier and be the star of the show.

before baking and after baking…. the squash & croutons get a little more browned and tender. the kale softens and crisps at the edges. the bacon melds its flavors onto all of its neighbors.

scoop some on a plate or bowl to serve. drizzle with the garlicky goat cheese sauce, and yuhuuhuuummm. get every element stabbed onto your fork if you can. so much flavor and richness. the colors are gorg and make me wanna go crunchy leaf stompin.’ plus, it’s warm, cozy & satisfying.

pete & i ate this as dinner (with a sausage on the side, lolz), but this could be a really nice side dish for your holiday gatherings!

this recipe is built on browned butter and you must go with it.

and remember…. don’t skimp on the sourdough.

texture town, babyyyyy!

Browned Butter Butternut, Kale, Crouton & Bacon Bake with Garlic Goat Cheese Sauce

Serves 4-6

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, browned in a large non-stick pan

• 1/2 a large or 1 small butternut squash, seeds removed and cubed into bite-sized chunks

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, sliced into 1” chunks

• 1-2 cups jagged sourdough chunks, torn from a loaf or baguette - crust included

• 2 cups of roughly chopped tuscan kale

• 1 large shallot, sliced into rings - rinsed under hot water in strainer to tame the bite

• 1/3 cup of chopped chives

• 1/4 cup pepitas

• kosher salt

• 1/2 cup creamy goat cheese (chèvre), room temperature

• 1 garlic clove, finely minced - rinsed with hot water in fine mesh strainer to tame the bite

• 2 TB. apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

• 2 tsp. honey

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions-

Wash and carefully cut the exterior skin off the butternut squash. Slice in half, remove & discard the seeds. Cut the squash into 1/2 inch bite-sized bits. Alternatively, use pre-cut butternut squash cubes from the store.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On the stove top, brown the butter in a large non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Constantly whisk the butter in the pan until it foams and brown flecks appear, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and continue to whisk for about 30 more seconds to prevent burning.

Return pan to heat and add the cubed butternut squash. Toss frequently with a spatula, coating with browned butter. Add some generous pinches of kosher salt as you toss the squash until slightly tender and deep orange, 5-8 minutes. Keep in mind that you’re going to put the squash in the oven, so you don’t want it to become too tender or mushy in the pan.

Scoop the slightly tenderized squash into a large bowl, leaving the browned butter in the pan on medium heat. Throw the rugged torn chunks of sourdough into the hot browned butter. Toss frequently on medium-high heat until toasty and golden (still tender - not too crunchy), 3-5 minutes. The bread will soak up the remainder of the browned butter. Remove from heat and toss with a generous pinch of salt.

In the same pan, cook the chopped bacon til brown & cooked, but not too crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.

Sauté the kale in the bacon grease until tender and bright, 2-3 minutes.

Place the cooked bacon and kale in the large bowl with the cooked squash. Add the chopped chives, rinsed shallot rings, and pepitas. Toss gently until all ingredients are dispersed. Lastly toss half of the toasted sourdough croutons into the mixture and combine.

Place the mixture in at least a 1 quart baking dish. Press the remaining half of sourdough croutons on top. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until croutons & squash are a bit more browned and the kale is crisp.

While the squash dish is baking, make the garlic goat cheese sauce. In a small bowl, thoroughly stir the room temperature goat cheese, garlic clove, ACV or RWV, honey and black pepper until very very smooth. Plate the baked squash and drizzle the goat cheese sauce over individual servings.

Serve immediately! Reheat within 2 days at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

qp