Fennel... Fennel

Have I ever  told you how much I love fennel?  It is a great vegetable.... you can eat it raw or cooked.  I added it to my beef stew all this past winter.  And I usually roast it with bell peppers and onions tossed with olive oil.  Anyway, here is a great fennel salad that I got from The Cooking Channel..... Laura Calder's show "French Food at Home".  Take a look at the recipes from her show. They are simple to cook, and very tasty, and always fresh ingredients.  I will post another recipe of hers in a few days.  The toasted pine nuts add a nice crunch.

Roasted Fennel Salad

• 1 fennel bulb, fronds reserved
• olive oil, for frying
• Fleur de sel (sea salt) & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 orange
• 1/2 small red onion
• Handful small black olives
• Handful toasted pine nuts
• Zest & juice of 1 lemon

Trim the fennel, reserving a handful of green fronds.  Cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick.  Heat a little olive oil in a saute pan, and, working in batches & seasoning with salt and pepper as you go, fry (or saute) the fennel on both sides until golden & tender.  As fennel is done, arrange on a serving platter.

Zest the orange and set the zest aside.  Remove the skin with a sharp knife, taking care to remove all the white pith from the fruit.  Discard the peel.  Cut out the orange sections, arranging over the fennel.  Squeeze the orange juice over the whole salad.

Slice the onion into paper thin rings & arrange over the salad.  Scatter the pine nuts and olives over salad.  Squeeze over lemon juice, to taste.  Drizzle a little more olive oil.  Finally, scatter over the reserved fennel fronds.  Serve.

Serves 4