Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Fennel and Orange Salad


Fennel and Orange Salad is a refreshing Italian after dinner salad you are sure to love. It's the perfect salad to clean your palate after a meal. Italians eat their salads at the end of their dinner, unlike here in America. I wonder who has it backwards, us or them?

It has a sweet and savory combination of orange juice and olive oil in it's dressing. This fresh salad has crunchy fennel paired with sweet succulent oranges. It's a healthy and quick accompaniment to any meal.

I eat my salad with my dinner, not before or after. Go figure. My parents often used to put out fennel after dinner. We would eat it much like how one would have dessert after a meal. I guess you can say fennel is to Italians what warm apple pie with ice cream is to Americans.

I have been a fan of fennel since I was a kid. Being the child of immigrant Italian parents, I was exposed to lots of things I wasn't a fan of. I can recall roasted rabbit trying to be pawned off to us kids as chicken. Liver trying to pass as steak. I remember rescuing a few snails to help them escape to the backyard just before they were thrown into a hot pot of sauce. Some meals were right out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not. I could never joke about this with my non Italian friends. They just wouldn't have understood. Talking about it on my blog is like therapy in ways. I'm lettin' my skeletons (or skeligans as my Silvana calls them) out of the pantry :)



You'll need:

1 fennel bulb, slice into 1/4 inch slices
2 oranges, peeled and cut into segments
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons orange juice
Salt and pepper to taste

In a salad bowl combine fennel and oranges.  In a container with a top, mix oil, juice, salt and pepper, shake well. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Serves 4

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2 comments:

  1. Love your site...I am a new follower! Are you Sicilian? My husband is and his father makes this with sardines added

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Michelle, I am Sicilian. You got my tastebuds thinking!!! I love sardines and am really liking that option....can you tell i havent had lunch yet!

    julia

    ReplyDelete

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