Whose body isn’t ready for spring? If your family has passed the winter the way I’ve spent mine, then you know what I’m talking about. Staying in instead of stomping around in the park. Tucking into hearty comfort food to warm up. Generally being kind of unhealthy.
That’s why I’m loving this bright, juicy creation, adapted from a salad over at Deb Perelman’s scrumptious Smitten Kitchen. It stars blood orange, a sweet “winter citrus” that’s almost reminiscent of grapefruit. In the kitchen, you’re done pretty much after you’ve finished the prep, no cook time required. At the picky-eating family table, the bold red color looks more lively than the usual pile of greens (plus, according to color psychology, it should make everyone more hungry).
A few main changes to the recipe: I added an extra blood orange for a more even fruit-to-fennel, because I’ve been feeling dehydrated between the bone-dry cold outside and an overactive radiator inside. Then there’s the sprinkling of fresh pine nuts (rather than the more intense hazelnuts) that always make healthy taste so good. Finally, fried shallots add a fun, satisfying crunchiness and just a hint of savory to make the salad interesting.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 large blood oranges
- 1 medium-large fennel bulb
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 1/4 cup fried shallots
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 10 mint leaves
Directions
Toast pine nuts in a skillet on medium. Set aside in small bowl and let cool.
Trim stems and leaf off washed fennel, then slice an additional 1/2 inch from the bottom. Make super-thin slices. The trick if you don’t have a mandoline? Don’t worry about cutting through from top to bottom, which can be difficult because fennel is rather firm. Instead, shaving neatly half way, then repeating through the other half (like you might with ham), will do the trick. Toss in a bowl with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
To cut blood oranges, place fruit on a cutting board and moderately slice off the top and bottom, so that flesh is exposed. Use the knife to trim the peel, moving from top to bottom, edge to edge. Remove pith. Over the fennel bowl–so you don’t lose any of the delicious juice–cut between the membranes and let the slices drop. Give the membrane one final squeeze for the remaining juice.
Add fried shallots, oil, nuts, lime zest, and mint. Toss and serve fresh.
