A delicious flavor packed salad filled with crispy pork belly, blue cheese, candied walnuts, fresh pear, and finished with a light vinaigrette. This salad is filling and so satisfying. My new personal favorite go-to salad.
If you love your salads (and even if you don’t) and are looking for something both fresh, comforting, and keto friendly – then look no further. I enjoy this salad all year round.
Try this salad with your own favorite keto salad dressing for an alternative. You don’t have to candy your walnuts if you want to whip up this salad quickly, but it doesn’t take long at all and adds a lovely bit of extra crunch and sweetness to the salad. Well worth it in my opinion.
I haven’t tried to candy the walnuts with other sugar substitutes as the stevia (I use Natvia) works well but you could experiment with what you have. You can use your favorite blend of greens mix or simply lettuce if you prefer.
Great as a weekend lunch, fresh summer dinner, or make a larger quantity if you have friends coming over. They are sure to love this and it’s very deceptive at hiding its high fat content so even your health conscience friends will love this!
Yields 2 servings of Crispy Pork Salad
The Preparation
- 4.6 ounces pork belly, sliced
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 0.07 ounce walnuts
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon liquid stevia
- 1.41 ounces blue cheese
- 1/4 medium pear
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard, optional
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 1/8 ounces mixed greens
The Execution
1. Turn your oven on to it’s broil setting.
2. Take your pork slices and cover with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and liberally apply salt to both sides. Cook in the oven until golden brown and crispy. Approximately 20-30 minutes.
3. While you wait on your pork to cook, roughly chop walnut halves into smaller pieces.
4. Heat a pan over a medium high heat and add your water and stevia to the pan. Wait for the stevia to dissolve and add your roughly chopped walnuts. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until the liquid has thickened and caramelized on the nuts.
5. Tip your nuts onto a tray to cool. Do not touch these as they will be very hot!
6. Chop your blue vein cheese and pear into bite size pieces and set aside.
7. Make your vinaigrette by adding mustards, white wine vinegar, and olive oil into a small bowl and whisk or mix with a fork until thickened and combined well.
8. Remove your crispy cooked pork belly from the oven and allow to cool, then slice into bite size pieces.
9. Toss your salad greens with the vinaigrette and top with sliced pork belly, candied nuts, blue vein cheese, and pear.
This makes a total of 2 servings of Crispy Pork Salad. Each serving comes out to be 479 calories, 45.7g fats, 4.3g net carbs, and 11.4g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 4.6 ounce pork belly | 381 | 28.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 teaspoon olive oil | 80 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0.07 ounce walnuts | 13 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| 1 teaspoon water | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tablespoon liquid stevia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1.41 ounce blue cheese | 141 | 11.5 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.9 | 8.6 |
| 1/4 medium pear | 25 | 0.1 | 6.8 | 1.4 | 5.4 | 0.2 |
| 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard | 2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard | 2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 1/8 ounce mixed greens | 17 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 1.3 |
| Totals | 664 | 50.3 | 11.4 | 2.9 | 8.5 | 40.6 |
| Per Serving (/2) | 332 | 25.2 | 5.7 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 20.3 |
Crispy Pork Salad
Ingredients
- 4.6 ounce pork belly sliced
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 0.07 ounce walnuts
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 tablespoon liquid stevia
- 1.41 ounce blue cheese
- ¼ medium pear
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon whole grain mustard optional
- 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 ⅛ ounce mixed greens
Instructions
- Preheat the oven broiler. Rub the pork belly with half of the olive oil and all of the salt. Cook in the oven for 20–30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.
- Meanwhile, roughly chop the walnut halves.
- Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the water and stevia. Wait for the stevia to dissolve and then add in the roughly chopped walnuts. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, until the liquid has thickened and caramelized on the nuts. Carefully tip the nuts onto a tray to cool.
- Chop the bleu cheese and pear into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Prepare the vinaigrette by adding the mustards, white wine vinegar, and remaining olive oil to a small bowl. Whisk or mix with a fork until thickened and well combined.
- Remove the crispy cooked pork belly from the oven and let cool. Slice into bite-sized pieces.
- Toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette and top with the sliced pork belly, candied nuts, blue cheese, and pear. Enjoy!
