Fried feta, kale and roast sweet potato

Name: Fried feta, kale and roast sweet potato
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 6 oz kale, leaves stripped and roughly chopped; 8 oz sweet potato, cut into small dice; 1 red onion, peeled and cut into wedges; 3 oz feta, in blocks, halved crosswise; 1 egg, beaten; 2 tbsp all-purpose flour; ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs; 1 tsp sesame seeds; 2 tbsp tahini; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tsp honey; 1 lemon, quartered; 2 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds; 1 pear, quartered, cored and thinly sliced; neutral oil for frying, olive oil, salt, pepper

A salad with a fried cheese course sitting on top of it, so nobody complains.

At a Glance

Time

40 min

Serves

Story

Kale needs to be worked with your hands, not just dressed. Squeezing the leaves in the tahini for a minute physically ruptures the cell walls, which is what turns it from something you chew at into something that gives. Then leave it ten minutes. Dressed and served immediately, kale is a raw brassica and tastes like one.

Ingredients

6 oz kaleleaves stripped and roughly chopped
8 oz sweet potatocut into small dice
1 red onionpeeled and cut into wedges
3 oz fetain blocks, halved crosswise
1 eggbeaten
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
1 lemonquartered
2 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
1 pearquartered, cored and thinly sliced
neutral oil for fryingolive oil, salt, pepper

Method

The feta is fried at the very end and eaten within a minute or two, so have everything else finished and on the plates before the oil goes on.

Oven to 450°F. Sweet potato and onion wedges on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 14 minutes, add the sunflower seeds, then 3 to 4 minutes more, until tender and the seeds have toasted.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the tahini, soy, honey, the juice of two lemon wedges and a slug of olive oil. Season. Add the kale and massage it properly, then leave it to sit at least 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
Set up three plates: seasoned flour, beaten egg, and the panko mixed with the sesame seeds. Pat the feta very dry. Flour, then egg, then crumb, pressing the crumb on firmly.
A thin layer of neutral oil in a medium pan over medium-high. When a pinch of panko sizzles on contact, in with the feta. 2 to 3 minutes a side, until deep gold. Onto paper towel and salt it straight away.
Roast vegetables and seeds into the kale and toss. Plates, then the sliced pear, then the feta on top, and the last lemon wedges alongside.

Dry feta is the whole game in step three. Any surface water and the flour turns to paste and the crumb slides off in the pan.

On the pass