Kale, Chard, and/or Hearty Greens Salad

Around here, hearty and delicious greens like kale aren't out of season just yet, and chard is booming! The rainbow chard at the farmer's markets is lovely right now! And, it's great to do something different than cook the greens down. This salad allows you to have zingy raw greens that eat like a meal (hugely thanks to the bacon ends!) Also, the recipe could be made with pine nuts or something else crunchy instead of or in addition to the bacon.

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Greens, etc.:

• head of kale, chard, or hearty lettuce
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped or diced cooked bacon ends

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, syrup, mustard, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper in a nonreactive bowl. The dressing can be prepared one day ahead; cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before using. (I actually made a double recipe of the dressing as a single recipe didn’t coat the leaves very well.)

Tear or chop the greens into bite size pieces, or to your liking.

Place the dressing in a salad bowl and whisk well.  Add the kale, cranberries, and bacon ends and toss to coat greens thoroughly with dressing.