Cooking With Mollie #16: Fennel with Oranges and Beets

Oh what a beautiful salad! Mollie takes us into a world bursting with color and flavor with her recipe for Fennel, Orange and Beet Salad. (Recipe at link).

I first encountered fennel when my housemate John returned from a college year in Florence, studying architecture and getting fancy ideas about food. I was intrigued by the licorice flavor of fennel, which he served plain in slices with a little good olive oil and salt.

I have to warn you: if you don't like licorice flavors, and many people don't, give this recipe a skip.

It's easy: paper thin fennel slices, sliced beets and oranges in a simple raspberry vinaigrette.



I thought it would be pretty to use pink and white beets (Chiogga variety) and the almost pink Cara Cara orange, which is quite sweet. This would also be gorgeous with purple beets and regular oranges.

Mollie says to section the oranges, which I believe is a fool's errand. As that viral video says, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

I simply peeled the oranges like I peel most fruit - cut off the top and bottom, then run my knife down the sides between the peel and fruit.



I tried sectioning for about 5 minutes, then got bored and just cut the oranges in half, took out the pithy middle core, then sliced them into half-rounds. Quick and easy.


All the orange sections I made before I grew tired of it.

It does need a couple hours to marinate, so leave time for that. The appearance is jazzed up by a last-minute sprinkle of fennel fronds. The tiny baby ones are especially nice for that.

Bon appetit!

Cooking with Mollie #11: Pear, Avocado and Beet Carpaccio

Ok, I messed this recipe from Mollie Katzen's "The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without" up bad. I was one of those nightmare people who doesn't follow instructions, leaves out ingredients, changes the preparation method, then leaves a comment saying "I used kidney beans instead of shrimp and it just wasn't very good."

The difference here is that the recipe still turned out very good, despite me doing my worst to mess it up.

The original recipe, found here on Culinary.net, complete with a nice photo, is for a layered salad.

The base layer is arugula, with thinly sliced beets, pear and avocado all arranged on top, sprinkled with gorgonzola and some optional garnishes.

I decided it needed to be more of a tian, something with the ingredients pressed in close proximity, so the pear could absorb some pink beet juice and it could look all exotic and colorful.

I layered the ingredients in a small plastic container, pressing on them as I went.


I didn't have gorgonzola or blue cheese, so I used cotija. I also forgot to put any walnuts in.


And then I turned the whole pile out onto a plate, arugula-less, but slippery and, yes, quite delicious:


The flavors were magnificent together - delicate, interesting, and distinct. I think the cotija was a good call, because it was salty, but otherwise mild-flavored. Gorgonzola might have been a bit much.

If I hadn't been so hungry, I would have let it sit an hour or two to get all colorized, but I didn't. I just ate it up.