Almond Crusted Pork and Sautéed Kale

Ingredients:
8 thin cut boneless pork tenderloin medallions
1/2 cup almond meal*
EVOO for the pan
2 cups kale**
Herbs of your choice
Salt & Pepper
2 eggs

* I use the left over almond meal from homemade almond milk.
** I use wilted/non-crispy kale chips - you can tell in my photo there is a mix of that and fresh kale.

Supplies:
Medium pan/skillet
Plate
Cereal bowl
Scratch proof tongs (2 pair)

Serves: 4

Scrambled two eggs in a bowl. You might be able to get away with using one egg depending on the size of your pork medallions. Rinse and dry pork *very throughly*. Since you are not doing a flour dredge before the egg wash it is very important to make sure the pork starts out very dry. On a plate mix your almond meal with salt, pepper, and your herbs. This time I used tarragon and parsley. Heat the pan to just above medium, with a very small amount of EVOO. The almond meal will absorb the oil quickly so use it sparingly to avoid a greasy taste. As the pan heats, wash a medallion in the egg wash, then dredge in seasoned almond meal. Lay gently in pan with first set of tongs. After about one minute turn over. Add a few drops of EVOO to help establish a nice sear/crisp and help the coating cook/bond onto the medallion. Depending how quickly you can work this "assembly line" you may be able to do two medallions at a time. Cooking time will depend how thin your medallions are. These were about 1/4 inch and took no more than 4 minutes to cook through. If you find your outside burning but the inside still raw, turn your heat down a tad. Remove from pan using second set of tongs to avoid cross-contamination.

Once the pork is done, toss the kale in a drizzle of EVOO and a dash of salt, pour into the same pan and toss occasionally with scratch proof tongs. Careful not to cross-contaminate! The tongs you used to remove the cooked pork should be okay. Kale is done when its just heated through and no longer crispy like lettuce. I like mine a little "al dente" though.

I made this today - I loved the flavor the almond crust brought to the pork!