(Good Things Utah) This copycat of Cubby’s Kale and Wild Rice Salad is the best way to get your greens in. It’s so good you won’t even know you are eating kale.

Salad Ingredients:   

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 4 cups chopped kale
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• ⅔ cups craisins
• 2 large apples preferably honeycrisp
• 1 large avocado
• 4 oz. goat cheese crumbles
• 3 cups seasoned cooked chicken

Dressing Ingredients:   

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp diced garlic
• 2 TBS honey
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Cook wild rice according to package directions. 
• For a little extra flavor, I’ll sometimes add in a chicken bullion cube to the rice while it is cooking. 
• Once the rice is cooked, chill it until it is completely cooled. 
• Make sure to cover the rice, so it doesn’t get hard and crusty in the fridge. 
• To prepare the kale, cut the kale off of the stem, and finely chop into small pieces. 
• Rinse and pat dry, or run though a salad spinner to release all of the extra water. 
• Now this is the most important step to working with kale. 
  • You have to massage it. That’s right, massage.
•  Squeeze the lemon juice on top of the kale, and with your hands, rub the juice into the kale leaves. Your kale will go from a dull green to a bright green. 
  • This will help make it more tender and easier to chew. 
• Finely dice your apples, avocado, and chicken and then combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until everything is evenly distributed. 
• In a small blender combine oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, and Dijon mustard. Blend until creamy, about 1 minutes. 
• Divide salad into 4 portions and serve with dressing.
• Refrigerate any extras as it will keep well for up to 1 week.

Find more recipes from Mary Susan Jenkins on her Blog and Instagram.