Off The Counter: Post Holiday Salad

This week's Off The Counter features 3 of my favorite salad ingredients:  fennel, citrus and kalamata olives.  Combining them results in a refreshingly light salad that splendidly balances hearty winter meals.  Using locally harvested honey and fresh pressed olive oil (both Christmas presents given to us by Alex's West coast cousins), I created a dressing that's both mildly sweet and acidic.  Ingredients and instructions below:

Ingredients:

Blood oranges, grapefruit, fennel, kalamata olives, fresh squeezed blood orange juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Instructions:

Thinly slice the fennel, peeled grapefruit and blood orange.  Arrange them on a platter and toss a handful of olives on top.  In a bowl, add olive oil and fresh squeezed blood orange juice.  Whisk in honey to desired sweetness.  Drizzle on top of salad, add salt and pepper to taste.

Many thanks to VK and AK for sharing some of nature's finest gifts with us this season.

What are your favorite salad ingredients?

Off The Counter: Mache*

This week's Off The Counter features mache lettuce.  As a salad lover I'm always happy to introduce a new leaf to the mix.  There are three main ingredients in this simple salad:   mache, fennel, and hazelnut oil (and, of course, salt and pepper).  Mache's sweet nutty taste is enhanced by the hazelnut oil, while the fennel adds its unique flavor, crunch and color.   Pair this salad  with this one and you have a satisfying, healthy meal. Don't forget the wine...

If you have a recipe you'd like to share with me, please do.  My counter will soon be filled with packing boxes, tape and bubble wrap and I will need inspiring recipes to sample when we're finally settled in California.