Cafe Johnsonia: Fennel and Orange Salad with Kalamata Olives and Microgreens

1.31.2013

Fennel and Orange Salad with Kalamata Olives and Microgreens

I sit down to write a little something about the recipes I post and sometimes I just don't know what to say. How many times can I tell you how much I love fennel and orange together? Or how much I adore salad? Or how blasted cold it's been and how much snow has fallen and how much I am longing for spring to arrive?

I could tell you all of those things, or I could just say this: Make this salad. It's incredibly delicious. It's sweet and salty and fresh. And you'll love it.

I could also let the pictures speak for themselves.

Fennel Orange Salad with Kalamata Olives and Microgreens

original recipe, to make about 4 small side salads

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb (about 6 oz.), some fronds reserved, very thinly sliced and tossed with a little fresh lemon juice
2 medium oranges, peel removed and cut into thin slices crosswise
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings (use a vegetable peeler)
big pinch coarse salt (I used sel gris)
small handful microgreens
really good olive oil, for drizzling
lemon juice, for drizzling

Instructions:

Arrange 1/4 of the sliced fennel on each of four plates along with 1/4 of the orange slices and kalamata olives. Sprinkle with a tiny pinch of the coarse sea salt, a few fennel fronds and microgreens. Drizzle with a little of the olive oil and lemon juice. Serve immediately.