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Posts Tagged ‘fennel salad’

A winter salad to celebrate

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2012| 47 Comments »

My first posting on this blog was a year ago today–7th of February 2011!

Poaching Eggs–was a homage to one of my food heroines, the formidable Elizabeth David.

I can’t remember exactly the weather that day but it may not have been so different to today’s–which is nose-endangeringly cold.

So a long nod of thanks to everyone that has visited and those that continue to visit and thanks too for  the comments–they are all read and much appreciated.

AND special thanks to my in-house photographer and editor with whom discussion is always lively and from whom I learn a lot!

Here’s a salad to celebrate.

Seasonally crunchy (not much choice from the locals this morning)–with a juicy orange and some sunflower seeds, to put one in mind of seasons to come.

It got the nod at lunch today from Meredith–(though not the mackerel fillet that it accompanied–next time I’ll use less smoked sweet paprika!).

For 2

1 large fennel bulb–outer leaves removed, stood upright and halved through the middle, each cut half laid flat and halved again, then sliced very thinly

1 celery stalk–sliced thinly

half a small sweet red onion–sliced thinly

1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds–dry roasted in a frying pan on the stove top

1 tablespoon of parsley–chopped

a few shavings of parmesan

1 juicy orange–carefully peeled (lifting off the white pith), halved and sliced thinly

salt for sprinkling

1 tablespoon best quality olive oil for dressing

  • Mix the first seven ingredients together with care in a favorite bowl.
  • Sprinkle with salt and the oil–add more oil if you like.
  • Lightly turn everything over.
  • Check the seasoning and serve.

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a crunchy winter salad

Posted in Food, tagged , on February 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The lettuce in Castres market this morning were small and expensive, but I found two good-looking fennel bulbs to act as a salad base for lunch.

Having removed the tough outer layers and the tops of the bulbs, I halved them and laid the cut sides down flat, sliced them finely and put them in a bowl.

I added a finely-sliced stick of  celery, half a small red onion, finely sliced (of course it’s a matter of taste how finely or otherwise you like your raw vegetables sliced!),

and the chopped flesh of a ripe avocado. Over this, I sprinkled a generous tablespoon of dry roasted  sunflower seeds.

(If I’d had radishes, they’d have gone in for taste and colour.)

I added some flat parsley leaves for a deeper green colour.

Shavings of Parmesan cheese over the top finished it off.

I dressed it with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of freshly-squeezed lemon juice, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard,  salt and pepper, whisked together.

It passed muster with The Taster in Chief (aka Meredith), which is more than can be said for the very fresh herring that I had rather messily filleted and fried.

I thought they were delicious–  still too bony for Meredith, which I understand.

I’ll try again, though, because herring are healthy and sustainable.

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