This raw kale salad is inspired by my teacher friend Sarah. An art teacher and chef extraordinaire she was my partner in crime for our grade level camping trip retreats we organized for our 8,10, and 12 grade students. We always strove to provide quick and healthy meals for our students that could easily be made for a crowd. This salad was born from these trips and we have been eating it every since. It travels well and tastes better after a few days in the fridge- what’s not to like about that? I made this with 7 sources nutritional oil because I like to sneak in all those healthy essential fatty acids whenever I can. It is however equally delicious with good old olive oil. It is very simple to make a much larger batch – the proportions below makes about 1 large mixing bowl. Feel free to add other veggies or nuts and seeds- I often include a little red cabbage as well. I must confess I am not good at doing exact measurements for salad dressing and just eyeball and test for the right consistency and taste. Feel free to play around with the proportion,s a good rule of thumb I learned long ago was about 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. I like a higher vinegar ratio personally especially on things like kale to break down the leaves a bit.

• 2-3 bunches Lacinato Kale leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped (some stalks are just fine) – really you can use any kale this is just my favorite
• 3 bell peppers thinly sliced – I used an assortment of red, orange, and yellow
• Dressing:  Whisk together: 1/2 cup  7 sources oil, scant 1/4 cup maple syrup, 4 tablespoons dijon mustard, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Stir together kale and peppers

Step 2: Whisk together dressing ingredients

Step 3: Stir dressing into vegetables

Step 4: Let sit at least 1 hour and up to about a week before serving

**Tip – I often save a bit of dressing to stir into the salad just before serving