Kale Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Kale is my new favorite salad green. We had a caesar salad with it at a restaurant and just loved it. Since then, we've tried it as the base for my own caesar salad, as the base for cobb salad, and as the base for this salad. What's so wonderful about kale is that it is so turgid, that it never wilts. So a) it keeps in the fridge for weeks, and b) after you make the salad, it will actually keep till the next day--even with an acidic dressing like caesar. 

This dressing is wonderful because, despite being rich and flavorful, it is actually very low calorie. Buttermilk, despite it's name, has very few calories, fewer calories per cup in fact than a cup of 1% milk. And there is no oil, so the only calories to speak of come from the blue cheese, which is fairly little, given how strong  flavor it is.

Serves 4 for Salad Portions

1 bunch kale, cut into 1" strips
(optional) 4 ounces bacon cut into 1/4" dice & cooked

Dressing: 
2/3 C low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
4-6 ounces Roquefort or other blue cheese

Blend all dressing ingredients in a blender and season with salt and pepper. Toss dressing with kale. Sprinkle on bacon. To make a modified Cobb salad, add diced avocado, chicken, and tomatoes.