Cool. Licorice-flavoured salad
What do you do with that? That’s a question I get often, when I have a bulb of fennel in my market basket or grocery cart. Fennel is one of my absolute favourite vegetables. It looks like a fat version of celery, with a pale base and light feathery green fronds on top. It has a delightful, very mild, licorice flavour. Fennel can be served raw on a vegetable platter or used in soups such as Bouillabaise or even braised as a side dish. I also love it in salads. The following salad features fennel along with oranges, black olives and mint. It’s a colorful salad and an ideal dish for a hot summer day. 1. Place the salad greens around the perimeter of a platter. 2. Prepare the oranges by cutting off the skin with a sharp knife down to the flesh. Cut each of the oranges into six slices, crosswise. 3. Arrange decoratively in the middle of the platter, overlapping as necessary. 4. Trim the tough stalks of the fennel and discard. (Save the feathery fronds for garnish). 5. Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise. Cut a wedge-shape piece of the core out of each half and discard. Then slice the fennel very thinly using a mandoline or chef’s knife. Scatter the fennel slices over top of the oranges and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Set aside. 6. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the salad. 7. Scatter the black olives and mint leaves over the entire salad and serve. If you have some of the feathery fennel fronds, scatter on top for garnish. Serves 6
A bit of ground cumin is nice in the dressing, too.