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Cast Iron Skillet Crispy Kale
Cast Iron Skillet Crispy Kale is a favorite easy weeknight side dish for us. Cast Iron Skillet Crispy Kale is ready in under 10 minutes, under 5 if you are in a rush and don’t care about the crispiness factor. Best part, kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet, so this Cast Iron Skillet Crispy Kale tastes great and it’s great for you, too! WIN WIN!
I am all about the simple, easy, weeknight dishes but I especially love nutrient-dense, brain-boosting foods that are easy to prepare and include in the weekly repertoire.
One of the world’s most nutrient dense foods, kale is an inexpensive way to load up on important vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Kale is incredibly rich in Vitamin C (more than 4.5 times what you can find in spinach and 1 cup of raw kale has more vitamins C than a whole orange). Kale is also one of the world’s best sources of Vitamin K, with 1 cup of raw kale containing more than 7 times the recommended daily amount, Vitamin K is an important nutrient involved in blood clotting.
Kale is also a great source of B6 and other B Vitamins. Kale like other leafy greens is a rich source of antioxidants, specifically Beta-Cerotene, an antioxidant the body can turn into Vitamin A, along with various polyphenols and flavonoids, including two flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol known for being heart protective, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and so much more. Kale actually contains over 45 different flavonoids! WOAH!
Lutein and zeaxanthin, catenoid antioxidants these are the nutrients that give kale its deep, dark green coloring and they are protective against macular degeneration and cataracts. Kale is also high in many minerals people are often deficient in, some of the minerals found in kale include calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, to name a few.
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6-Minute Crispy Skin Cast Iron Salmon
Much like other staples in our household, shredded chicken, Big F*ckin’ Salads, and hard cooked eggs, this 6-Minute Crispy Skin Cast Iron Salmon is a weekly mainstay! Here’s the best part, this Crispy Skin Cast Iron Salmon is ready in six minutes! You heard me – SIX!
If you dare tell me that you don’t have time to make dinner, we will fully get into it. I can promise you that. With delicious, nutrient-dense meals like this, ready in under 10 minutes, there are literally NO excuses. Grab the cast iron skillet, have some high quality, sustainably caught, skin-on salmon on hand, every week, choose some nice organic greens or another fiber-loaded green veggie and BOOM, in under 10 minutes you’ve got dinner. Easy.
Best part, wild caught salmon is an incredible source of quality omega-3 fatty acids. In our household we shoot to eat quality salmon or other omega-3 rich fatty fish, at least 3 times a week, I notice this makes a really big difference in my health, my skin looks better when I am on top of my omega-3 fats and I just feel better. And dang, it is truly so delicious!
As always, I am gonna preach what I always teach and that is quality matters. Seek out a sustainably fished, wild caught salmon. Not only is it better for your health, it’s better for the environment and the earth! Don’t skimp here. And the skin, lots of extra nutrients in there, so not only is it tasty AF, it’s giving you some good stuff, too.
Things I want you to know about my Crispy Skin Cast Iron Salmon:
- It’s basically the only way to eat salmon!
- If you’ve got the time, let the salmon filets rest in the fridge, uncovered, skin side up, to dry out the skin. 15 to 30 minutes ahead of cooking, an hour if you’ve got it. This makes a world of difference. Trust!
- Do not overcook your salmon, dry salmon sucks.
- Cast iron is where it’s at. The cast iron gets hot and stays hot, evenly. I like to turn the heat off for those last couple of minutes of cooking on the other side, so it’s not crazy hot, but there’s no need to move the pan to the oven or broiler.
- Serve your salmon, crispy skin side up. If you take it out of the pan and serve skin side down, you broke it, the skin will lose that amazing crisp.
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Cast Iron Charred Lemon Garlic Asparagus
Cast Iron Charred Lemon Garlic Asparagus, a simple, 10 minutes side dish, celebrating the best that Spring has to offer and one of my favorite cooking tools, my cast iron skillet!
If you couldn’t tell by now, I am more than a little bit obsessed with my cast iron skillet. That baby is ALWAYS on the stove, often with a nice layer of bacon fat, but always seasoned and ready to go.
Besides being super convenient, easy to clean and just a solid, dependable kitchen tool cast iron is also a healthier option. Choosing cast-iron pans is a great source of iron in your diet. Iron deficiency is a fairly common place issue worldwide, especially among women, some research shows 10% of American women are iron-deficient.
A study published in the July 1986 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that cooking in cast iron skillets added significant amounts of iron to 20 foods tested. For example, the researchers reported that the iron content of three ounces of applesauce increased from 0.35 mg to 7.3 mg and scrambled eggs increased from 1.49 mg to 4.76 mg of iron.1https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/healthy-home/cooking-with-cast-iron/
References
1. ↑ https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/healthy-home/cooking-with-cast-iron/
