Fennel and Orange Salad (Insalata di Finocchi e Aranci)

We are still cooking Italian around the Kansan Prairie.  And loving the flavors, textures, smells and most of all the tastes.  This rather unusual salad features a new favorite of mine, Fennel bulbs.  They look a little like onions, but they have a very distinctive taste and smell.  Much like Onions, fennel bulbs can be can be sautéed, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw.  But the tastes are different.  Fennel bulbs have a very distinctive odor of Anise... Black Licorice.  Fennel by itself may be a bit too strong for me, but it combines incredibly with other tastes... Like Citrus.

It also has a wonderful odor that adds to your meal.  If you have never used fennel in a recipe, give it a try sometime.  You may just find a new favorite!

And nothing better than this simple yet FLAVORFUL salad.  Only a few ingredients, no cooking, unique tastes and smells, fresh and inviting.

 Here's what I did...

Fennel and Orange Salad
(Insalata di Finocchi e Aranci)

Ingredients

• 1 Small Fennel Bulb, stems discarded, Bulbs thinly sliced
• 3 Medium Seedless Oranges, sliced, peeled, none of the white outer membrane showing
• 2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 TBS Champagne Vinegar
• 1 TBS chopped fresh Parsley
• To tase, Salt and Pepper
• 2-4 crisp Romaine lettuce leaves (or for a very colorful salad, try red Radicchio lettuce for edible presentation

Cooking Directions

1. This requires 1 hour of marinating, the recipe serves 2 but can easily be doubled
2. Combine everything except the garnish/presentation lettuce in a bowl, gently stir to coat, you do not want to break up the fragile orange slices.
3. Store covered in the refrigerator for one hour.
4. place 1-2 lettuce leaves on 2 plates, Romaine or Radicchio looks best, on a plate. Arrange the orange slices and sliced fennel on top.
5. Serve chilled and ENJOY!

I served this as a soup and salad (a Citrus flavored tomato soup that I will be posting about soon).  Made a wonderful lunch, could have served as a light supper.  The orange/licorice smells and tastes stayed with me for awhile.  LOVED this combination and will be making again!

This is a MUST MAKE recipe for my new Page that eventually will be a guide to Italian Cooking (worth following). I will try to research the history, Italian name for the dish and most of all the authenticity (going to be hard not to monkey about with the recipes, but I at least promise to try).

So, Cin Cin indeed as I add a crisp light Citrus salad to my "52 Authentic Italian Recipes".

And as always, if you like this recipe and think you might want to give it a try, pin this to your Pinterest Board and be sure to follow me on Pinterest if you want to see the rest of my 52 Ideas!