This bright salad has stimulating and vivid flavors of fennel, raddichio, and orange.

Ingredients

• 3 cups baby arugula
• 1 small head radicchio
• 1 small fennel bulb
• 1 orange
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Direction

1. Wash the baby arugula leaves and set them aside to dry.
2. Core the head of raddichio and rinse. Set the raddichio aside to dry.
3. Trim the fennel bulb by cutting off the stalks and leaves from the bulb. Cut off the bottom end and cut the bulb in half. Trim out any of the remaining bottom core. Remove the outer layer from the bulb. Rinse the fennel and set aside.
4. Cut the orange in half across middle, not lengthwise. Take one half and separate the sections of the orange and set aside. Remove any visible seeds.
5. Take the other half of the orange and squeeze out the juice into a small mixing bowl.
6. Take both the raddichio and the fennel and slice into very, very thin strips. Think almost paper thin. Place the raddichio and fennel into the salad bowl.
7. Add the arugula and orange slices to the salad bowl. Toss the salad lightly.
8. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper to the orange juice in the mixing bowl. Whisk the orange juice and olive oil together.
9. Pour the salad dressing over the salad and toss the salad.
10. Serve immediately.

Notes: The raddichio had a bitter flavor and the fennel has a black licorice flavor. The key to using these strong flavors together is to slice it very thin. This will keep any one flavor from over powering the others.
For a sweeter salad use a can of mandarin oranges. Drain the orange slices and reserve the juice for the salad dressing. Mix part of the juice into the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the oranges at the last moment before serving the salad and gently toss them through the salad.

evoo