Warm Asian Pork Salad

During these unseasonably warm days of fall, the shipped that sound so fantastic are put on hold.  My family tends to want a happy medium.  So a fall salad is perfect!  If the weather permits I have even done a grilled variation of this.

While not strictly Paleo, the addition of blue cheese has lots of nutritional benefits according to this studyhttp://bottomlinehealth.com/why-cheese-is-surprisingly-good-for-your-heart/ which mentions the French Paradox  (which may not be that paradoxical...but more on that later).  The interesting findings were that blue veined cheeses seemed to do several things, like:

1) Lower blood pressure
2) Increase cholesterol synthesis
3) Combat bacteria
4) Offer heart healthy nutrients like vitamins A, D, B6, and B9.

If you like this recipe,  and weather permits,  a completely grilled version also includes blue cheese.  I'm including it at the end of this blog.  For now,  this recipe:

Warm Asian Pork Salad
2 Romaine Hearts, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
6-8 oz diced, pre-cooked pork (leftovers are perfect!)
1 sliced pear
3 T sliced green onions
2 T sesame-ginger dressing (homemade would be healthiest-my recipe below)
3 T cashews
3 T blue cheese

Prep your romaine in 2 large salad bowls.  Heat the oil (don't worry, this won't be long enough to oxidize the oil) with the garlic to infuse its flavor, toss in the pork and let it lightly brown, then the pear, green onions, and dressing until everything is hot.  Pour over your greens and top with cashews and blue cheese.  The greens will wilt slightly under the hot dressing, but you'll get a mix of hot and cools, it is very nice! 

My variation on this was published in Penzeys Spices Catalog 2013 and includes chicken instead of the pork and almonds.  The trick is to grill everything (okay, not the cheese and nuts) on a very hot grill (chicken breasts, peaches, red onion slices).  Two minutes for each ingredient including the romaine.  Slice it long ways and brush it with olive oil.  The smokey flavors from the grill play wonderfully with the blue cheese--oh my!  Sorry for the emotional reaction, but I do hope you find it as fabulous!

If you need a Sesame-Ginger dressing, here was mine from the same issue:
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 T olive oil
1 T honey and/or stevia to taste
1/4-1/2 t powdered ginger
1/2 t freshly grated ginger (a blend of fresh and powdered is best)
1 T soy sauce or coconut aminos
1/2 c pineapple juice

Are fat-germs the reason you are overweight? Maybe!

For those of you who follow the research I post, you'll remember a study about a poor gal who gained 30 pounds after a fecal transplant from an overweight friend. The doctors apologized with a "sorry, that can happen" and studies support it. So I wasn't surprised to see this latest article from The Atlantic explaining why today's younger generation is more likely to burn less calories. The article sites 3 primary reasons:
1) Exposure to pesticides, flame retardants, and food packaging affecting our hormones.
2) Prescription drugs like Prozac and other antidepressants. and
3) Our "microbiome" (natural intestinal bacteria) have changed. If that's not horrifying enough, the article doesn't even mention other research that shows junk food we eat can actually influence us to eat more of the same!

 But before you go googling poo-pills from skinny people (yes, that's a thing) let's tell you a few things you can do to make that gut a happier place for hard-working bacteria.
1) Eat foods naturally high in health-promoting bacteria... a.k.a.-fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir (a drinkable, amped-up yogurt, and sauerkraut-not from canned) and take a quality probiotic with many different strains of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.

2) Feed your new friends by eating their food: oligosaccharides which are found in foods like onions, garlic, and asparagus and resistant starch found in bananas and potatoes
 3) Get lots of diverse, high-fiber foods... which is going to likely happen from getting some of the foods above, but generally, just eat lots of plants.
 4) Avoid toxins and unnecessary drugs like antibiotics (which are like a bazooka to the ecosystem in your gut) unless you absolutely must.
Keep following for more on gut flora and even recipes for probiotic foods!