This salad has converted kale skeptics. I was one of them. After having it at a restaurant, I asked the chef for the dressing ingredients, and started making my own variation.

It’s super simple, but the secret ingredient may surprise you. It’s the key to why this tastes soooo good. Don’t leave it out!

Save this recipe for when you have a freshly picked bunch of curly kale from your backyard or local farm in late Spring or Summer.

• 1 bunch curly Kale
• 1 Lemon
• 2 Tbsp grainy mustard (I like the Trader Joe's one. It's only grains.)
• 1 - 1 1/2 tsp anchovy paste or 1-2 small anchovies
• Olive oil - about 3/4 cup but may need more or less depending on taste
• Sliced almonds
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Did you catch that secret ingredient? Oh yeah. Anchovies! I like to use the paste since it’s easier to work with, but both the paste and the little fishies will melt into the olive oil when you give it a good stir. You won’t see them, but their brine-y-ness is truly what makes this salad special.

Instructions:

Wash and de-vein the Kale leaves. Tear into smaller bite-size pieces. Be sure to dry thoroughly, either in a salad spinner or a kitchen towel.

In an extra-large bowl, juice lemon. Add grainy mustard, anchovies, salt and pepper, and stir well to combine. Add about 1/4 cup of olive oil to start, and whisk thoroughly with other ingredients. Keep adding a little more olive oil until you have a thick, almost creamy consistency to the dressing. You want to end up with quite a bit of dressing.

Taste, and if it feels like it needs something, add a pinch or two more salt and some more ground pepper. Sometimes a little more grainy mustard works, too, depending on your taste.

Toss the dried kale leaves into the bowl. With salad tongs or two large forks, toss the kale and dressing thoroughly (this takes at least 2-3 minutes) until all the curly bits of the kale leaves are shiny and coated with dressing. This is the key to turning this into everyone's favorite salad, even if they don't think they like kale.

Let sit for a few minutes. Serve with a generous sprinkle of sliced almonds and enjoy.