Easy baby kale salad with mandarin oranges, grapes, sunflower seeds and more - a powerhouse recipe!

Posted by I had purchased a huge bag of baby kale and needed to use it up. Aside from not having the tough large "ribs" stems that need to removed from "grown up" kale, baby kale has a slightly milder taste and yet still sturdy enough to sit happy in dressing for a day or two completely unfazed.  So with that in mind, I did a riff on the traditional brocolli salad with fruit, swapped out the brocolli, added in more sweet and crunchy elements.. and this killer tasty (and healthy) salad was born!
Feel free to make this salad with full sized kale.. just remember to remove the tough central ribs/stems (and discard), and massage/soak it in some salt water, rinse!! and then use.

Ingredients
Dressing
-1/4 cup chopped red onion
-1/2 cup plain yogurt (any time works, I used Greek yogurt as I had it in the fridge)
-3 tablespoons mayonnaise or miracle whip
-2 teaspoons sugar or honey
-1 lemon, zested and juiced

Add ins
-3 tablespoons craisins or raisins
-1 cup seedless grapes, washed
-1 cup mandarin orange wedges
-1 cup tomatoes chopped - I used cherry and grape tomatos
-1 cup cucumber diced (about 1/4 of a cucumber)
-1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds, or pecans, or walnuts, or almonds or pine nuts.. whatever you like or have on hand

Salad
-4 cups baby kale lightly packed or chopped kale (ribs removed), soaked in salt water for 10min, rinsed and drained

How to:
1) In a large mixing bowl, combine onion, yogurt, mayonnaise/miracle whip, sugar/honey and lemon zest and lemon juice.
2) Add in all the add-ins except for nuts and mix well
3) Add in kale and toss to coat. Cover and let sit in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.  You can eat right away, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes
4) Garnish with toasted nuts and enjoy!