Sarah B's Roasted Fennel, Blood Orange Mint Salad from My New Roots

Here's a yummy winter salad that will knock your socks off and make you feel like summer is upon us (if you can forget that oranges are a winter fruit).  One of the best things about eating seasonal is that the food tastes soooo good.  

This salad really simple, easy to prepare on a weekend while your significant other is shoveling the driveway, working on the computer, or doing other things without you!  He or she will be happy to tear him/herself away from their activity and join you in sharing a plate of this lovely (and also detox friendly!) winter salad. 

Recipe from My New Roots

Ingredients (serves 2 people)

2 fennel bulbs (1 per person)

3 blood oranges (you could also use navel oranges or grapefruit, but take into account that these are larger)

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt to taste

1 small red onion cut into rings

1 bunch of fresh mint (I to ~ 10 sprigs or so)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F or about 175C

2. Wash the fennel bulbs and remove the green parts.  Slice into sections about 1/2 inch thick.  Place fennel in a roasting pan, sprinkle with olive oil, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Cook under fork tender, about 30 minutes.  

3. While the fennel is roasting, prepare the oranges.  Remove rind from the blood orange and slice horizontally to make orange rings.  

4. Cut the red onion in rings in paper-thin slices.  

5.  Roll up mint leaves (like you would basil leaves) and slice thinly into ribbons. 

6.  Arrange everything on a plate.  (I put the fennel in the center, surrounded with the orange rings, topped with the sliced onions and mint ribbons).  If there is juice left in the rind of the orange, squeeze it over the fennel (I did not do this).  Serve immediately.

Lusia Weiss's Potato Salad (Kartoffelsalat)

I've made this dish for the past couple of weeks in a row.  Those of you that are linked to me on facebook have seen the images (I think for a couple of weeks in a row... eek!).  Here's the recipe finally, my apologies for the delay in posting this one.  

This recipe is taken from Luisa Weiss (author of this blog) book, My Berlin Kitchen.  The Dutch are  quite particular concerning their potatoes and since they are eaten as a staple here, they command much attention.  As a result, we have had the pleasure of trying new varieties from the local farmer's market and I use this recipe and will continue to do so to determine if the new variety of the week suits our taste buds.  I suspect, similar to our mozzarella di buffala needs, we will become quite snotty in the way of choosing potatoes... well... there are worse things in life.

This recipe is easy and saves well (if it lasts in your household) throughout the week.  I also think this would be a great recipe for an outdoor cookout or family grill night.  

Ingredients: 

1/2 kilo of potatoes (or about 1 lb of potatoes - choose a variety and see what you think, I haven't found one in particular I'm ready to recommend)

3.5 tablespoons unsalted butter (this can be reduced if desired, but you will need some... )

1 shallot, finely chopped (Lusia calls for 2 yellow onions, finely chopped - I tried this the first time around and wasn't a huge fan of the onion texture or flavor in this dish, the shallot offers much more of a muted flavor and of course, integrates well into the white wine)

2/3 cup of white wine vinegar (this can be reduced, but not by much...)

1 and 1/3 cup of vegetable broth (Lusia calls for beef or chicken broth - I am sure the flavor is enhanced, espeically if you use homemade broths.  If not, a cube combined with water works just fine)

2 tablespoons of mustard (Luisa calls for Dijon, I have been using whatever is in my fridge, use whatever you like, but I would recommend you stay away from something like French's mustard)

3 tablespoons of olive oil (Luisa suggests sunflower oil could be used as well, I haven't tried this)

Freshly ground black pepper

2/3 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, minced. 

*Note, I doubled the sauce (/marinade) recipe from Luisa's recipe since we prefer this salad a little more flavorful... if you prefer a more subtle flavor, half all of the marinade ingredients, except for the shallot.

Directions:

(Note, these are my directions, based on Luisa's recipe from her book).

1. Wash the potatoes and cut the potatoes in half (for the large ones I cut them in quarters) the long way. 

2. Place the cut potatoes in cold water that has been salted (I use large grain salt, but fine grain would be fine; use as much salt as you would when you salt pasta water).  Boil them (allow the potatoes and the water to come to a boil together) until they are fork tender (the fork should slide through, but experience a little resistance - check this using the thickest potato in the pot, about 20 to 30 minutes of total cooking time, including the time it takes the water with potatoes to come to a boil).

3. Once tender, drain the potatoes and allow them to cool.
4. Peel the potatoes and cut them into bite size cubes and place into a serving bowl. Set aside the potatoes.

 

6. Melt the butter in a saute pan and add the shallots.  Mix well and cook for 3 minutes (I actually used a timer for this and the time seems appropriate) over medium heat. The shallots should begin to loose their color, but not brown.

 

7. Pour in the vinegar and then the broth.  Add the mustard and stir well.  Let the mixture simmer over low heat for an additional 3 minutes (I also tried this time and it seems appropriate).

8. Pour in the oil and wisk the sauce together.
9. Pour the hot marinade over the chopped potatoes.  There will be some extra sauce left and it may take some time for the potatoes to soak up the rest of the solution. 

10. Add the minced parsley and mix well.  Taste for seasoning (add more salt and freshly ground pepper as desired) and serve.

Lusia mentions a couple of variations which I think are worth mentioning, but I have not tried them myself.  She recommends adding bacon on Speck, which you can fry in the butter (she indicates to reduce the amount of butter by a tablespoon) before adding the shallots/onions.  I think you could also do this after the salad has been made and mix it in once the meat is cooked.  She also suggests adding diced French cornichons to the salad to 'bump up the sour, crunchy factor' - maybe a great option for a hot, summer day.

I hope you try this recipe and please let me know what you think!