Kale Fruit Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

I’m going to refer to kale as my frenemy.

Oh kale, you nutrient packed, cruciferous superfood. Why must you taste like dirt? Well, not really dirt, but more like dirt than most other foods. I want to absorb all of your crazy vitamin and mineral benefits, but I just am not the girl who will ever say “Yay, kale chips! My favorite. I’ve been craving them.”

I want to be her, but I’m more like this girl “Hah! I ate a KALE SALAD for lunch. That’s right. You heard me! A KALE salad. I guess that means for dinner I can have a slice of lasagna the size of my face! Better finish it off with some ice cream.”

Because life is all about balance! Right?

…sigh

This salad is what I consider a compromise. It’s my counter offer when kale says “Eat me raw, I’m delicious!”

I say, “Fine! You are not delicious! But, if I absolutely smother you in fresh fruit, pecans and goat cheese, you will become tastier.”

Incidentally, turning it into pesto can also make it much better. Check it out in this Polenta with Kale Pesto and Root Vegetables recipe!

Kale is my enemy because of it’s taste, but it is my friend because of it’s high nutrient content and it’s ability to be disguised by other foods. My frenemy.

Look! From the top, you can’t even see any of our frenemy! We might as well call this a “fruit salad”

You know how salad is really only good the first day? You put the leftovers in the fridge and try to eat it the next day and everything is wilted and soggy! That is one benefit of this salad. It stays crisp for days! In fact, the tough structure of the kale breaks down as it sits in the vinaigrette, and becomes more palatable. The apples stay pretty fresh and don’t brown too much from all the citrus.

Basically, you have NO excuse not to eat every last green leaf.

Do you want to know the reason I included so many green apples? I will tell you, even though it reveals more negative things about myself. I’m HORRIBLE at guessing how much of things I need. I made mini apple hand pies for my brother-in-law’s engagement party recently, and I was at the store before I had nailed down what recipe to use. I ended up using a simplified version of this Apple Pie with Browned Butter Crust

Anyway, I was at the store, and I didn’t have the recipe, so I thought, “hmmm…I probably need about a billion apples for the hand pies. I’ll just get a few billion to be safe.” And guess who couldn’t use them all…

Incidentally, once I figured out the right recipe, I guessed how many hand pies I might need for 20-25 people and made way more than we ended up needing! Even still, there is a heaping bag of granny smith apples sitting on the kitchen counter (and a bunch of hand pies in the freezer).

Frequently, I’ll be charged with figuring out how much food to make for 2-6 people, and I’ll make enough to feed the entire population of a small country. “What if there’s not enough!? What if somebody leaves hungry!?” <——– this is my constant thought, and pretty much the only thing that makes sense to me when planning meals. Thank goodness Taylor will eat leftovers.

Despite all of my whining about kale, and my jokes (half serious) about it tasting like dirt, I really enjoyed this salad, and I think you will too!

Thanks for reading! 🙂