Pizza and a Salad -- A Perennial Favorite

The Pizza

I've posted about making pizza before but I have a few changes/improvements in my method--not earth-shattering new techniques, but things I need to remember to do that really improve the outcome:

1.  Drizzle olive oil directly on the pizza before putting it in the oven.

2. Always add salt and pepper in generous amounts.

3. Put the pizza pan on the lowest oven shelf to cook. This way, the pizza cooks with a perfectly crisp bottom in about 20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. I stopped using my pizza stone and actually gave it away on one of my newest obsessions, the Buy Nothing Project website for my town. (Having to put the pizza stone in the oven way ahead of time to heat for 30 minutes was something I couldn't be bothered to do!)


The Salad

Sometimes I like a perfectly plain lettuce salad with pizza, dressed only with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. But tonight I had some extra ingredients on hand and had a salad as interesting and varied as the pizza. If you look closely, you'll see fresh kale, Romaine lettuce, olives stuffed with garlic cloves (delish!!), roasted red pepper, red onion slices and toasted sunflower seeds.