Raw KALE Salad { Denver Culinary Photographer }

OK, please bear with me for an itty bitty side-trip down a culinary road.

This salad is ridiculous. I love LOVE kale, but I honestly never knew you could eat it raw -- RAW -- until a recent visit to Dr. Andrew Weil's True Food restaurant (which just opened up blocks from me). The waitress was kind enough to share their basic recipe, and I've been playing with it for a few days until reaching this recipe tonight, which tasted like perfection.

I'm absolutely addicted.

Thankfully, it's ridiculously easy to make!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch fresh lacinato KALE
• 1-2 lemons (I use the juice of about 1 1/2)
• olive oil (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup)
• fresh turmeric root (about 1/4 tsp)
• parmegianno regianno
• red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:
1. Chop a whole bunch of fresh, washed kale (I used Lacinato - removed stems, rolled leaves and chopped into very thin strips).
2. In a glass (or if you have a better mixing glass for salad dressing, by all means, use that!), combine equal parts the juice of both lemons and olive oil; minced fresh turmeric root; a dash of red pepper flakes; dash of salt & pepper; and grate in about 1/4 cup of the parmesan.
3. Whisk together dressing and toss over kale to coat.
4. Let stand for about an hour at room temperature. The lemon will soften the kale just enough to be absolutely perfect to eat (while also preserving it's nutritional value which would otherwise be diminished if you cooked it).
5. I added some more parmesan, slivered almonds and a croutons for good measure.

Serves 2 as dinner salads, or 4 if you're making as side salad.

Enjoy!