Still feeling the post-Thanksgiving bulge? This salad of kale, raw beets, fennel and carrots will help whip that system back into shape. Served with a basic lemon vinaigrette, I find it helps kickstart healthy eating.

A mandolin makes quick work of slicing the vegetables thinly, but if you don’t have one, just do the best you can with a sharp knife. Feel free to skip the drying step, but I think dehydrating the vegetable slices just slightly, gives them an unbeatable texture.

In my book, healthy eating is as simple as eating a wide range of veggies (and a lot of them). If you stick with this philosophy, you don’t have to spend time worrying about the specific benefits of each food. However, if you’re interested, here are a few of the good things you’ll be doing for yourself when you eat this salad:

Beets are important for heart health and have a detoxification impact on the blood and liver.
Raw beets are also high in folate.
In addition to being a natural diuretic, lemons are alkalizing to the body.
Kale is loaded with calcium.
The phytonutrients found in fennel help prevent the absorption of toxins.

Kickstart Kale Salad

Serves 4 as a side salad, 2 as a main (ideally paired with a roasted chicken breast)

6 cups baby kale

4 large beets, cleaned, stems removed and peeled

4 carrots, washed and peeled

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, tough outer layers removed

If not already washed, wash and dry the kale and set aside.

Using a mandolin if you have it, thinly slice the beets, carrots and fennel and lay on wire racks to dry out.

Pour ¼ cup of the lemon vinaigrette into a bowl. Add the the kale and vegetables and toss gently.

If desired, serve salad with roasted chicken to make it a main.

Lemon Vinaigrette

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)