Almond Crusted Pork Loin and carmelized fennel salad

You can never go wrong coating food in almond flour...This is best enjoyed the day of making, as the almond meal starts to soften in the fridge by the next day. It's still good though, just not crunchy.

For the Meat:

2lb pork loin, in 1/2 inch slices
1 cup almond flour (I bought mine at Trader Joes. If you can't find any, just grind up some almonds in your food processor until it turns to powder)
1.5 teaspoons "Everyday Seasoning" from Trader Joes, or a combo of sea salt, ground mustard seeds, pepper and coriander


For the Salad:

1 fennel bulb, in 1/4 inch slices, bottom cut off
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium apple of your choice, in thin slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups mixed greens
1/2 cup walnuts
Walnut or Hazlenut oil
Salt and Pepper

Pork:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees for the pork, and move the top rack to the second position from the top (in my oven I have four slots, so this would be just a tad higher than the middle). Pat the pork slices dry, and mix the almond flour with the seasoning on a plate or in a small, flat bowl. Dip each piece of pork into the almond flour mixture and flip to coat. Place all pork pieces into a lightly oiled 13x9 inch pan. If it doesn't all fit you could place them on a rimmed baking sheet as well. Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Then move the rack to the top position and bake for another 5-8 minutes. This will let the almonds cook more and get crunchy :). (While the pork is baking...start the fennel below)

Fennel Salad:

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. When hot, add the fennel slices and onion. Continue to cook over medium heatfor 12-15 minutes, tossing occasionally. At around the 15 minute mark you should start to see some good carmelizing(browning) on the fennel and onions. If this hasn't started yet, continue to cook another 5 minutes. After the fennel has begun to carmelize, add in the sliced apple and toss, cooking another 2-3 minutes to warm the apple. Sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper and remove from heat. Toss the warm fennel mixture into the mixed greens, and top with the walnuts. You can drizzle with a little walnut or hazlenut oil if you'd like. Serve with the pork and commence drooling!!