During the holidays, we still need to eat but we can be in food overload and it can be refreshing to try something distinctively new. Blood oranges begin to be available in December and their very intense color is a happy addition to our winter tables. From Amber Rose in the lively new book Nourish, here is one of those distinctive ideas you may crave: a salad of fennel adored with blood oranges, mozzarella and dill.
This is the season to get fresh fennel. Dill? Thank god for greenhouses. And mozzarella is best eaten when fresh and local. Fortunately, we can all find the ingredients for this salad in our local markets and we can find ingredients that are fresh, lively, and ready for our tables.
Amber suggests this salad be paired with roast chicken. Made in big enough portions, this salad could the main course for your weekend brunch. Just pair with some white wine and a bold bread: rye or hearty sourdough, warm from the oven and aromatic enough to match the fennel.
Fennel Salad with Blood Oranges, Buffalo Mozzarella & Dill
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients:
- 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed
- 2 blood oranges, peeled to remove any of the outer white pith and membrane (use ordinary oranges when blood oranges are out of season)
- 2 balls of buffalo mozzarella
- 4 sprigs of dill, leaves picked
- ¼ cup really good cold-pressed olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
Preparation:
Start by taking a very thin slice off the very bottom of the fennel. This removes any brown bits and gives a nice flat base so that you can set the fennel upright to slice it. Now slice the fennel as thinly as you can.
Arrange the fennel and orange slices on a shallow I serving platter. Tear up the mozzarella into medium pieces and arrange over the orange and fennel. Scatter with the dill, then drizzle with the olive oil and squeeze over the juice from the lemon. Add a pinch of sea salt and a few twists of pepper. Enjoy.
Source: Nourish by Amber Rose, Sadie Frost, and Holly Davidson [Kyle, 2015]