I hereby grudgingly admit that I don’t like kale.  Yes, it’s supposed to be fantastic for you, and “everybody’s doing it.”  But I think it has too much texture for a lettuce substitute, and I’m just not quite on board with this particular healthy food trend.

That said, I have found that kale works really well in soups.  It wilts down enough to take care of the texture problem, and there are usually so many flavors in soup that the kale isn’t a strong part of the overall taste.

This weekend, I also found a salad that makes kale downright tasty.  Thanks to Smitten Kitchen, I might not die from the absence of kale nutrients in my life after all.  I would type out the “this is how I actually did it” version of the recipe, but I’m too darn busy eating my kale leftovers.  Plus, Scott actually made this recipe for us.  Due to those happy factors, I’ll let you enjoy the recipe at its original source: kale, kale, kale!

And just know that it works out fine with dried cranberries (because I’m too cheap to buy dried cherries just for one recipe), and a lack of ricotta won’t kill you either (couldn’t find it anywhere).  We used Boursin cheese instead, and it was tasty.  A lack of toasted almonds, however, just might kill this recipe.  That was Scott’s and my single favorite part of the salad.

Also, kale salad leftovers do hold up significantly better than most salad leftovers.  I will reluctantly add that to the “pro’s” side of the list.

Double also, we would have starved if we ate this as our main course.  We made turkey burgers, too.  We justified that by using giant lettuce leaves as hamburger wrapping implements.  So much lettuce and kale and green and such!