http://www.lawrence.com/users/shenning/photos/2011/may/17/214120/

If you follow me on Twitter you know the following: I LOVE kale.

I eat it constantly. I will praise kale until words fail me. I even have a kale necklace (Thanks, Coleen!).

Despite my love affair, I do understand that many, many people, think that the only attractive bit about kale is its nutritional profile. Yes, it can have a “strong” taste. Yes, it can have a “strong” smell (when cooked). Yes, it is a member of the cabbage family, which I know some folks swear off sight unseen.

But I beg of you to give it a chance. If not for it’s high-quality nutritional profile (100 grams has 50 calories, 1 gram of fat, 308 percent of your vitamin A, 200 percent of your vitamin C, 14 percent of your calcium and 9 percent of your iron), then for the local farmers who grow it so well. Kale grows like a rock star in our climate and the local farmers who contribute to our grocery stores, CSAs and farmers’ markets, do an excellent job with it.

So, last week when I got a bunch of kale from my Rolling Prairie CSA along with a sack of other goodies — homemade pesto, rhubarb, salad greens and onions — I knew I was going to introduce you to my favorite kale salad.

Now, I do like my kale in my green smoothies too, but since I’ve been using spinach for those, that frees up my kale for salad. Yummy, yummy salad.

This salad has all sorts of goodness going on — crisp veggies, sweet dried fruit, protein and good fat from the hemp seed and even more good fat from the avocado. It’s a great balance of salty and sweet, chunky and crispy. I wish I could take credit for it, but again, the credit goes to my friend, Kristen, whose books I love and whose recipes I love even more.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/shenning/photos/2011/may/17/214121/

Rockin’ Kale Salad

1/2 bunch curly green or dinosaur kale

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

1 tomato, chopped (or another bell pepper)

1 avocado, chopped

1 lemon, juiced

10 kalamata olives, chopped (optional)

4 pitted medjool dates, chopped

2 tablespoons raisins

2 tablespoons hemp seeds (or flax seed)

1/2-1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch black pepper

Pinch nutmeg

Tear the pieces of kale into little bits, taking care to not use the tough stems. Put everything into a large bowl and massage together with your clean hands. Yield 1 large or 2 medium-sized salads. (I usually take the whole thing for lunch and eat half of it at lunchtime and half in the afternoon for a snack.)

In this week’s CSA: Lots of greens! Spinach, lettuce, spring mix, kale, radishes