With spring in full swing, you need recipes that make you feel lighter. Like we always say, it’s never too early to start getting your body ready for summer. Before you know it, summer will be over and those 15 pounds you wanted to lose haven’t gone anywhere. Get started on your summer health journey while it’s still spring! There is no better way to do that than with this kale, apple, and pomegranate salad.

Kale is somewhat bitter and offers a slightly peppery flavor, making it a great salad green to pair with tangy, sweet, and even zesty ingredients. In this recipe, you get to enjoy an assortment of flavors and textures. Offering creamy avocado, crunchy pecans, crisp apples, and pomegranate arils that burst with tartness, this salad is unbeatable. The key is to thinly slice the kale, which makes for a more enjoyable eating experience. It also helps to take some of that bitter intensity away. A pro tip: you can use larger pieces of kale and massage them with a little olive oil and lemon juice to break down the fibers and intensify the flavors.

Do you want to know the best part of this salad? If you don’t have all of the ingredients, you can customize it and use the ingredients you do have. Don’t have raw pecans? Swap them out for raw walnuts or almonds. Thought you had an apple, when you really have a pear? Use the pear instead! You can even swap the pomegranate arils for little mandarin segments. Be creative and follow your taste buds, but make sure those substitutions are raw vegan if you are cleansing!