Hearty Salad with Spicy Pork and Avocado

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Meat. The best part of pork for this salad is the tenderloin. Instead of pork, you can make this salad with chicken, turkey, or beef. In the latter case, it is best to use tenderloin or striploin.
• Lettuce. I used romaine. But iceberg, lollo bionda, and baby spinach will also work. You can add some arugula to the salad for extra zest.
• Onions. Red onions work best. You can substitute shallots or white onions if needed.
• Bell peppers. For a brighter look, it is better to use peppers of two different colors – I have red and yellow.
• Avocado. Use any variety of ripe avocado.
• Cilantro. This ingredient is optional, but if you love cilantro, don’t skip it – it gives the salad an interesting fresh note.
• Oil. Any refined, neutral-flavored vegetable oil – sunflower, corn, canola, olive, or grapeseed – will work for dressing. If you want to add more flavor to the salad, you can replace some of the refined oil with extra virgin olive oil.
• Vinegar. You can use white wine vinegar, apple vinegar, sherry vinegar, or rice vinegar.
• Mustard. You can use Dijon mustard or substitute honey mustard.
• Honey. It is best to use honey that is not too strong in flavor, such as acacia or linden honey. Buckwheat and chestnut are better left for other dishes.
  Note that honey must be liquid and not crystallized.

Let’s start cooking.

Cut meat into thin strips across the grain. Place in a bowl, add seasonings and salt to taste and mix. Set aside.

Slice onion into half moons, slice bell pepper into thin strips.

Make the dressing. Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk with a fork until emulsified.

Peel and dice the avocado and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent it from darkening.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan over high heat. Brown the meat in batches, one minute at a time.

Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add onions to pan. Cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, 3 minutes.

Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes more. The peppers should remain tender-crisp.

Tear the lettuce with your hands, place in a bowl and toss with 3/4 of the dressing.

Arrange on plates. Top with remaining ingredients and drizzle with remaining dressing. Add cilantro greens if desired.

Serve.

Enjoy!

This Hearty Salad with Spicy Pork and Avocado recipe was checked, prepared and approved by Chef Tatyana Nazaruk - author of FlavorIt.com.
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