I refuse to massage a vegetable. I braise and sauté cook my kale. 
Kale and cabbage both have an affinity with potatoes. Spinach and chard, too, come to think of it. As I too have an affinity for potatoes, I often cook greens with them.
Those tough greens that should never be eaten raw ever work quite well braised in the Instant Pot. A little broth, maybe something that came from a pig, a bit of pepper flakes or hot sauce, maybe some oil if you inexplicably omitted the smoked pork, a few minutes in the IP and you’ve got yourself some delicious collard greens or kale.
Cabbage! When I don’t make borscht, I cook it with chopped onion, garlic, shredded carrots, chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, and herbs/spices. Bacon fat makes this dish even more delicious. Or chopped kielbasa or ham.
Try some Asian greens, like Napa cabbage, bokchoy, baby bokchoy. Napa cabbage is so tender and juicy, much better tasting than kale/collard greens. I agree with @“Cardinal Fang” kale/collard green/mustard green/turnip green should be cooked/at least stir fried. You don’t have to use lard to make them tasty, lots of EVOO will do the trick too, heat the oil with chopped onion/garlic/sliced mushroom/carrot, separate the leaf from the stem, you could cook the stem along with onion/garlic so that they will be tender, put in the leaf for couple more minutes. Add salt/spices. My fam loves it. Google kale soup, it is easy to make and perfect for winter too.
Try some Asian greens like gai lan, yu choy, tatsoi or pea shoots.
Nah, braising kale is the easy way out! The point of making a kale salad is what I want an uncooked kale dish! Massaging prior to adding dressing - and if you can, even after makes a world of difference. I tear the kale in smaller bites and massage away - I love it!!!
“Massaging the kale helps to break down the tough cell structure and gives the kale a softer texture and (some people feel) a gentler flavor, that’s more appealing in a lot of raw preparations like salads, and is supposedly easier to digest, too.” - there indeed is a purpose and benefit to the massaging.
Tonight I did saute spinach in a little olive oil w/garlic and then when done squeezed a little fresh lemon juice and shaved parm. It was very good!
I DO want to try the kale salad above with apple - sounds like a nice touch!
You can probably achieve a similar effect by removing any stems and slicing it super thin.
I already remove the stems prior to massaging. I do not mind the massage! It also helps with the flavor and breaks down some of the fiberous content and I do believe that dressing “sticks” better without getting slimy.
This is my fav kale recipe:
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/kale-salad/
I like lacinato kale, not the curly kind. And I don’t like baby kale either.
I buy kale, different lettuces, chard (rainbow’s my fav) and arugula or spinach every week, then come home and chop/wash/spin the heartier ones and bag them with paper towels. I make a salad every day mixing the different greens and adding veggies (like red cabbage, radish, tomatoes, bell peppers, cuke, etc.) I’m not a big fan of cooked greens, though I do add spinach or escarole to soups.
I haven’t read all the replies yet, but I’m hoping to see a collard greens or dandelion greens recipe - I’ve yet to try them!
Kale chips! Yum!!!
On a trip we visited Tavern restaurant in Nashville and had their Tuscan Kale and Parmesan Salad and I became obsessed with it. I recreated it from memory and later found a quasi recipe. The ingredients are in the recipe but its not very detailed.
https://spoonuniversity.com/recipe/make-home-tavern-kale-salad
The trick I use is to put the lacinto kale (also called Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale) in a mini food processor/chopper till the kale is in small bits. Also use real shredded Parmesan cheese. This is the best kale salad!
BTW if ever in Nashville check this place out for the salad and the buffalo cauliflower!
^^That’s very similar to what I make. It’s good!
Here’s a tip to make your Kale sweeter. Slice your Kale first and wash in water after. Roasting Kale in the oven with olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and sesame is delicious.
Uncooked greens are not necessarily healthier than cooked ones. Once you get the water out of the cooked greens, you actually might eat a lot more fibers/other nutrients than in a salad.
Cooking spinach with tahini is pretty delicious imo. However, if you are suffering from kidney stones, you should avoid spinach.
Beet greens are my favorite. I lightly saute them in olive oil with garlic.
I also use raw spinach instead of lettuce on sandwiches.
All other greens H cooks for us southern style. They’re very tasty, though the added ham likely lowers the health content.
Folks eating raw kale might want to Google it. Last I knew that specific green is horrid on the digestive system raw, but fine cooked. We stopped eating it raw after someone suggested I Google it…
Chard is delicious sautéed in olive oil with garlic with some bread crumbs and Parmesan added near the end.
Raw kale is high in fiber and can be helpful in digestion. If you are more sensitive to digestive issues you may want to watch the quantity you eat just like you probably avoid too much raw broccoli, cauliflower, etc. A kale salad here and there (like any other food item you eat weekly) will not be harmful on the typical digestive system. Also as mentioned earlier, the massaging of the kale helps to break down the fiber and fiberous nature of kale and makes it easier to digest.
It is not horrid on the typical digestive system in typical quantities.