I wasn’t kidding when I said I bought a lot of kale. But I think I saved the best of the recipes for last.

The best part about kale is that it actually stands up to dressings and to other flavors and textures. There are quite a few leaves and lettuces out there that might as well not even be part of the salad, texture-wise. Or even taste-wise. Do you remember what red lettuce tastes like? Me either. But I know what kale tastes like. And I really like it with bacon.

I’m also quite pleased with this crazy-simple yogurt dressing. Thanks to tips from my husband and my friend Mary I’ve been trying yogurt as a substitute for more things. I’m the type of person who will eat sour cream with a spoon, straight from the container, but unfortunately that doesn’t really jibe with my whole “eating healthy” plan. I still eat sour cream, but when I can, I use plain yogurt now. And the yogurt is actually the star of this show. Try it! You will look like a total genius. You don’t have to tell anyone that it’s low-calorie.

Here’s what you need for two entree-sized salads:
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
6 cups of kale, measured after it has been cleaned, de-ribbed and cut into 1 or 2-inch pieces
4 slices of cooked bacon, cut into 1-inch strips
Croutons (homemade if possible!)
Salt and pepper

In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, blue cheese crumbles and lemon juice to form a dressing.

Add the kale, bacon and croutons to a very large bowl. Pour the yogurt dressing over top and toss to coat. Season lightly with salt and heavily with freshly-ground black pepper.