Alton Brown Reveals the Key Ingredients to Making His Kale Salad Anything But Basic

On Sept. 27, Alton Brown released EveryDayCook ($35), his first cookbook in five years, and after stopping by TODAY to make his Not-Just-Another-Kale-Salad recipe, we can tell it was well worth the wait. Brown's recipe uses quick-preserved lemons and crispy chickpeas for a tangy twist on your usual salad mix. The recipe also calls for, gulp, anchovies, but he says, "Stop it! I know what you're thinking, and yes, you need them and no, the salad won't taste fishy and you must trust me on this." Fine, we're trusting him!

We thought we'd seen it all from the kale salad — topped with strawberries, cheesy breadcrumbs, and even Flamin' Hot Cheetos — but Brown proves we just need to perfect the basics to make the kale salad special. We never thought we'd say this, but we're craving some kale right now.