Succesful Raw Kale Salad (and Pizza!)

Had to write again this weekend because I am so excited that we harvested some kale from our fall garden and made a raw kale salad that DH and I both loved!  Reading online I learned a secret to making it work - add olive oil to the washed, torn kale with midribs removed, and massage the oil into the leaves. The effect is almost that of lightly steaming the kale, it's just a bit less raw tasting. :)  So, below is my official recipe:

Raw Kale Salad

1 cup kale leaves (about 10 small leaves)
1 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup almonds, chopped and lightly toasted
1/8 cup raisins
1 carrot, chopped

Place the washed, torn kale leaves (minus midribs) into a medium bowl with the olive oil and salt. Massage the oil into the kale leaves for about 3 minutes. Add lemon juice, vinegar, carrot and raisins, stir well and let sit for 5-10 minutes for flavors to mingle and raisins to soften. Just before serving, add toasted almonds and stir again. Enjoy! Note: this served us two small salads, so scale up accordingly.

Our pizza was superb, too!  DH asked for a cornmeal crust, so I found this recipe online. I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups all purpose flour. We froze 1/2, made 4 small breadsticks and one big pizza from this recipe. I made the Vegan with a Vengeance pizza sauce, and we added green bell peppers (last of the ones from the garden!), red onion, hot banana peppers and some veggie crumbles. It was delicious and really pretty with all of the colors!  DH's half had organic mozzarella on top.

Very successful dinner in our house. We are both very pleased with it. Great way to end a beautiful fall weekend. Cheers!