Kale Salad with Chicken, Bacon and Israeli Couscous

I don’t mean to brag, but I really love kale. I know – what an asshole. So many people struggle to eat enough of the bitter superfood, and I just happen to totally dig it. It’s downright obnoxious, but I promise, I don’t take this blessing for granted.

Because I love it and know how healthy it is, I try to eat kale as often as possible – in smoothies, in pasta, in soup – any way I can. My very favorite way to eat kale, though, is salad. My husband always makes fun of me because I’ll make a meal out of any ingredients I like, whether they go together or not, but I think the ingredients in this salad are extremely well-matched, despite the fact that I cobbled them together from whatever I could find in my kitchen.

I always start with a big bowl of regular kale. None of that baby kale crap. I remove most of the bigger ribs.

Right off the bat, I drizzle it with a little olive oil, a healthy helping of fresh lemon juice and some sea salt.

Then, I massage the kale for two to three minutes, until it’s softened and a bit wilted.

See how much it’s reduced?

Once that process is complete, I set the kale aside to continue soaking up the oily-lemony-salty goodness while I prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Whole wheat Israeli couscous (or pearl couscous) is another one of my very favorite things. It’s more versatile than the teeny couscous, in my opinion – much better in salads. My grocery store carries one by RiceSelect, but I’ve seen a few other brands. Trust me, it’s worth the search! Just one tip: like many whole wheat pastas, it can be a little bland-tasting on its own, so I always cook mine in chicken broth.

For this salad, I make about 3/4 cup of couscous, and I cut up a whole pint of grape tomatoes.

For my protein, I tear four slices of turkey bacon into little bite-sized pieces, and I use whatever chicken breast is left over in my fridge. (For this particular salad, I used some that Brad had made for shawarma the night before, but the nutmeg was an odd fit – I might not recommend it.) If I’m grilling the chicken specifically for this salad, I just mix up some extra lemon mustard vinaigrette to marinate it with.

Making salad dressing is an art in my kitchen, not a science. Every time I try to use exact measurements, I just screw it up. This is my best guess, though: 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, one tablespoon lemon juice, one tablespoon dijon mustard, one teaspoon minced garlic. Add to small bowl and whisk. Salt and pepper to taste.

I toss all the ingredients and dressing together with my softened kale …

And I serve it with a very generous helping of shaved parmesan.

Let’s be honest – everything in life needs a generous helping of shaved parmesan.

Side note: If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I recently chipped my front tooth while enthusiastically trying to lick the last bit of Israeli couscous off a bowl. Yes, this is that Israeli couscous, and the mixing bowl you see in this post is the bone-breaking culprit. While I would recommend using utensils to eat this salad like a civilized human being, I’m hoping my tale of woe tells you just how delicious this salad is. I mean, I wanted to finish it so badly that I smashed a bowl into my face. So, uh … give it a try. Go kale!