recipe: Mediterranean Kale Salad

So today was a much needed trip to The Veggie Lady, whom I LOVE. I was surprised to see she had home grown kale (*insert excited woo hoo here!*) so of course I had to get some and make this amazing raw salad that I have been loving so much! Actually, I ate it for lunch. Along with pan seared catfish and red pepper hummus. OH YUM. So here's the salad recipe for you guys. I promise it'll be a hit...YES even with the kids. Something about the lemon makes it a crowd pleaser, this I promise.

Mediterranean Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch of dinosaur kale (curly kale works, that's what this is)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts 

1/8 tsp Kosher (or sea) salt
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice from about 2-3 lemons

Directions:

So you remove the kale leaves from the stems and roll a bunch of those leaves up in kind of a cigar shape. Then you slice down the roll (making thin ribbons of kale, called a chiffonade). Do this until all your leaves are ribboned and toss these into a bowl. (If you can't rock the chiffonade, that's ok too. A rough chop will do just fine, just make sure the pieces are small and thinner to ensure they wilt and soften well.) 
Then you put in the olive oil and lemon juice and salt. Here's the fun part- you get your hands (clean preferably lol) in the bowl and you toss the leaves and juices with your hands, squeezing while you do it. What you are trying to do is wilt the kale so it's texture is less like cabbage and more like leaves. So squeeze those suckers until they are a darker green and soft. 
Then add in your red pepper, pine nuts and olives. I also added a dash of Cavender's Greek seasoning, but it's not necessary.
This stuff is magnificent. I made so much the other night to bring to group and I honestly nearly decided just to keep it at home for myself! This group of people, particularly the men are such macho eaters...steak and fried chicken and potatoes, etc. So I was worried they wouldn't like it. Well, I shouldn't have fretted. The entire salad was cleaned out by the end of the night and I've heard there have been requests for the salad at a few of their homes as well! So you know this will be a hit. Don't worry if you don't like some of the ingredients. You can leave any of them out and it's still delicious. Also, I bet money this would be really good with tiny mozarrella balls and chopped sun dried tomatoes too. Or even shaved parmesan cheese. And what a great healthy side dish too! Completely full of vitamins and minerals. So much better for your body than plain old lettuce. 

I hope you enjoy!