Ingredients:

1 bunch kale or ¼ pound baby kale
1 bunch radishes
½ cup feta cheese, or more to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar OR apple cider vinegar
½ tablespoon olive oil
Salt, to taste

Instructions:
Slice kale into ribbon strips. (If using baby kale, leave as-is.) Toss and let marinate for an hour in mixture of vinegar and oil. Wash and slice radishes—at least six—into fine coins. If desired, they can be cut into quarters once coined, as well. Add feta and salt to taste. Serve and enjoy.

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Kale is the superfood of the locavore movement. Kale is a dark leafy green with more calcium than milk, sweetens in the field when frost takes away our tomatoes, and comes in a wide range of varieties to keep the palate pleased. Lacinato comes bumpy and blue-green as a dinosaur’s skin, Red Russian’s tender oak leaf shape and purple veins add punchy color to any dish, and Winterbor’s light green ruffled leaves bring texture to an otherwise simple salad.

Vegetables are nutritious in their raw form. Kale tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and left to marinate for an hour will wilt gently and digestibly before served. To expedite, massage the kale. Cut the leaf into ribbons and work your hands through it as you do with dough. Dress the salad with the coined, bright white and red radish slices and add the feta as a last step, as this keeps it all clean of the dark dressing before serving.

This salad is excellent with crushed walnuts, slivered almonds, and pine nuts. A sweet pop of color from carrots or blueberries can also substitute in for those who dislike radishes. But if you’re willing to give the little roots a second chance, a quick pickle of vinegar, water, sugar and salt will render radishes deliciously palatable.