Raw Kale Marinated Salad

The Chef: Jennifer and Herbivore

The Menu: Raw kale marinated with lemon olive oil dressing, topped with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, diced onions, avocado, and soy chicken

The Goods: When this morning's Recipe Club popped up in my inbox for a Raw Marinated Kale Salad, I thought, yes, please. I'm new to the San Francisco area and Herbivore came highly recommended by VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria so it seemed like the perfect place to get a raw kale salad. While I love kale as a sautéed green, I've never eaten it raw. With all the health benefits of kale I've learned about while working at VegNews (full of fiber and keeps glaucoma at bay, to name just two), I thought it was time to try it fresh. The salad from Herbivore did not disappoint. Marinated with a lemon olive oil dressing, it was yummy, and true to the facts, I felt fuller after eating it than I do with just regular salads. The soy chicken was dynamite and slices of fresh avocado are one of the major benefits of living in California.

Kale is a major component of green juices (like Kris Carr's Make Juice Not War Green Drink) and while I've always been a fan of greens like spinach, kale, and collard, I've been a little hesitant to try green juices. But now that I've tried raw kale, I think it's time to step it up and get myself a tall green juice. After all, #3 on Kris Carr's recent Top 15 Crazy Sexy Diet Tips is to make juice, not war. Who am I to argue with Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Diet?