Discovering New Vegetables: Kale!

Kale is like the "hip" vegetable lately.  I'm not sure if it's because I suddenly have a new appreciation for it so that I notice, but it's everywhere!  I first encountered this vegetable due to the juice cleanse I did last year.  One of the two green juices I drank everyday for 3 days had kale in it.  Soon after the cleanse, we purchased a Vitamix in order to make healthy smoothies.  Oh man, the Vitamix blender is the most amazing thing and may be my second most favorite tool in the kitchen!  For green smoothies, I sought out different vegetables to use and a lot of the recipes I found used kale.  I initially ate a lot of kale in a blended fashion, but after finding this salad recipe and still having lots of it in the fridge, I decided to give solid kale a chance.  What a great salad.

Fully-Loaded Kale Salad
adapted from Healthy. Happy. Life.

A few variations...
...I used marinated artichokes, pears, romaine lettuce, persian cucumbers, plum tomatoes, and avocados.

A surprisingly nutty and tangy dressing.

Refreshing!