We, as a nation of eaters, need to come to terms with our new reality: kale salads are here to stay. Until relatively recently, kale was known as one of those things people make you eat for vitamins, either tough and stringy or cooked down to mush. Kale's new moment in the sun arrived a few years ago, but it really refuses to loosen its stranglehold on the modern American menu -- especially the salad section. For the record: we are not complaining.
We've loved kale, cabbage, collard greens, Brussels sprouts and all of their cruciferous, frequently maligned, vitamin-rich cousins and siblings for as long as we've been making our own eating decisions. We insisted that you guys massage your kale for optimum tenderness, we've pushed enthusiastic kale recipes on you whenever we could get away with it. We, along with a lot of New York, fell deeply, irrevocably in love with Battersby's crispy kale salad. This salad sensation (sorry) isn't going anywhere, so the best thing to do is find your go-to version and make it better than anyone else. In the spirit of getting us all on our kale salad A-game, we've compiled some of our favorite variations below. Let us know your favorite way to kale salad in the comments!
