ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

ChefSteps

For such a light food, kale carries some weighty nutritional symbolism. Somehow, the stuff that used to line the spaces between edible offerings at salad bars—a durable garnish that employees would collect at night, store, and reuse until it turned brown—has become the poster child for healthy eating. But don’t let the trendiness put you off. Kale is nutritious, inexpensive, and admirably indelicate, a hearty ingredient that serves as a welcome break from iceberg, romaine, and the rest of the salad mainstays. They key to a quick raw kale salad? You gotta chop up those leaves into skinny strips. The key to a quick and delicious raw kale salad? You gotta add the right stuff to it. In our minds, that’s pine nuts, golden raisins, olive oil, a little lemon juice, and salt, pepper, and shaved cheese. Mix it all together and there you have it—an uncomplicated, crunchy melange you can serve as a side dish at dinner or top with some chopped chicken breast so you can feel virtuous about your lunch choices. All hail kale! Let’s make some salad.