This takes the traditional citrus and red onion salad up a level with the addition of anise-flavored fennel and pistachios. For added flavor, try topping with strawberries as pictured.
- Two Cara Cara oranges
- One tablespoon pickled red onion
- One medium bulb fennel
- 1/4 cup chopped (roasted, salted) pistachios
- 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil to taste
Remove fronds from fennel so that no spears protrude from the bulb. Cut off the base and then slice down the center of the bulb to expose the heart. Much like a cabbage heart, the fennel heart tastes great, but remove it for this salad. You can remove it and slice it thinly to include in the salad, but keeping it attached will bind all the fennel to the center, making the pieces too large to eat. After removing the heart, slice the bulb (and the heart if you like) thinly. Toss with lemon juice and salt and set aside.
Supreming the Oranges: Segment Cara Cara oranges. Slice off the top and bottom of all of the oranges. Then slice the skin off with a knife, moving from top to bottom, so that the orange segments are exposed without an outer layer of pith. Carefully holding the orange in your hand, cut the orange away from the white pith, using two cuts per segment. This way, your segments do not have any pith on them. Squeeze the juice from the heart of the orange and reserve for dressing.
Toss orange and fennel together with pickled onion and salt and pepper. Add a splash of orange juice and circle your mixing bowl with olive oil. Toss from the outside into best incorporate the oil. Finish with pistachios!
