Fennel and orange salad

This is hands down the best fennel dish I’ve made. The salad is bright, crunchy, and sweet. The fennel adds just enough licorice flavor without being overpowering. I started with a recipe from my favorite cooking blog, Smitten Kitchen, and substituted a few ingredients. I’ve posted a few recipes from Smitten Kitchen before: Garlic & Butter Roasted Mushrooms, Deb’s Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix, and Strawberry Summer Cake. I can always trust Deb for a fantastic recipe. I think we are foodie kindred spirits. I served the salad with cod roasted in lots of lemon juice. It was a light, refreshing, and fulfilling meal.

Fennel and orange salad
Recipe modified from Smitten Kitchen
 
Serves 2
 
Ingredients
 
1 small fennel bulb
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 small mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into wedges
1 small shallot, peeled and sliced thinly
10 mint leaves
1 teaspoon lemon zest
¼ cup toasted and salted pepitas (toasted hazelnuts or walnuts are good too)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
 
Instructions
 
Trim stems off fennel bulb, reserving 1 tablespoon of the feathery fronds. Chop them finely. Slice about ½ inch off the bottom of the fennel bulb and discard. Slice fennel as thin as you can with a mandoline or knife, starting with the flat bottom side. Toss with lemon juice in a medium sized bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit while preparing the other ingredients.
 
Add to the bowl oranges, shallot, mint leaves, lemon zest, pepitas, and olive oil and toss gently. Serve cold or room temperature.