This recipe is the perfect balance of healthy-not healthy, which, in my mind, truly makes the perfect salad. Kale just goes so well with bacon!

I suppose this is hardly a recipe at all: tear up some kale leaves and massage them in a large bowl with about a tablespoon of olive oil. This softens the leaves and makes them easier to eat, not to mention beautifully, luxuriantly green. Meanwhile, cut 2-3 strips of bacon into chunks and fry. Once the bacon has reached your preferred level of crispy, remove from the heat, drain off as much fat as you can, and drizzle liberally (very liberally!) with honey, and then freshly ground pepper (also liberally!). Allow the heat remaining in the pan to caramelize the honey and bacon, stirring every few minutes to ensure an even coating of honey on the bacon.

Add about a quarter cup of very finely chopped pistachios to your kale, and along with that, shave plenty of fresh Parmesan cheese into your salad as well. Once it’s mostly cooled, add the bacon.

This salad needs the tartness of lemon to balance out the salty/sweet bacon and earthy nuts and cheese. I achieved this by mixing, half and half, some lemon white balsamic vinegar I had with some good quality olive oil. If you’re lacking in the lemon white balsamic vinegar department, whisk up equal parts olive oil and lemon juice, along with a half part of honey to thicken and sweeten.

Toss the salad components and dressing together and serve. Enjoy!

This is a cross-posting from my new site, Nalumana Women’s Wellness.