'Best Kale Salad Ever': The Internet's Most Enthusiastic Recipes

We've noticed something around here at Healthy Living. As we do our daily sweeps of the health community online -- looking at our favorite blogs, newsletters and Twitter feeds, there is a strange, almost ecstatic tone that our most trusted healthy lifestyle sources take when they talk about ... kale salad.

It isn't just Gwyneth at GOOP or our friends at TheKitchen. Pretty much everyone, even the most unlikely enthusiasts, are getting in on kale salad:

That's because, while The New York Times may have noticed the dark leafy greens as a suitable salad base just this month, anyone with a WiFi connection and an appetite for nutrition news has known it for quite some time: Kale salads are here to stay and everyone feels very enthusiastically about that.

Rapturously-titled kale salad recipes we've come across have alternately called the green "life-transforming," "the best ever" and "super-amazing magic guilt eraser." Has a vegetable ever been so lauded? We even massage it:

But beyond the individual enthusiasms of members of the foodie-sphere, a quick look at Google's search analytics reveals an overall growing interest in the stuff:

It's true that kale has a superior nutrition profile: At 33 calories per cup, the green is exceptionally rich in calcium, vitamins A, C and K as well as phytonutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin and minerals like potassium, iron and phosphorus, reports WebMD. The high fiber content is health-promoting as well, though people who take blood-thinners should avoid the green as vitamin K can interfere with the efficacy of their medication.

But kale is far from the only nutritious dark leafy green on the block (what about sweet, colorful swiss chard or broad, adaptable collard greens?), so why all the enthusiasm?

“With all these gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian, organic, anti-toxin foods, kale really embodies a new trend of eating and awareness,” one kale enthusiast told The New York Times.

We're not complaining, we're just curious: Why do you all love kale salad so much? Tell us in the comments!