Do you ever feel like dinnertime is a cooking show mystery box challenge and you have to throw ingredients together and whip up some fabulous meal before your husband kids… someone…votes you off the island? Although timers and cooking-under-pressure aren’t really my thing, I think I would survive a mystery box challenge–I’m a stay-at-home mama! I create my weekly meal plan based on the ingredients I have in my fridge and cupboards at the time, no more, no less, and it gets pretty creative sometimes.
I will either throw the lucky ingredients together for a great mystery box dinner…and cross my fingers…(Green salad mix? Cauliflower? Apricots? Shrimp? How about a homemade green spaghetti pasta with roasted cauliflower and shrimp in a garlic cream apricot sauce topped with sunflower seeds and fresh basil?), or grab one main ingredient I have and consult a cookbook. Fennel bulb? Snap peas? Grapefruit? I used Martha Stewart for this dinner salad inspiration, and adapted her fennel and snap pea salad to include a few more ingredients I had on hand, because fresh fruit always wants to join the salad party.
And seriously, what goes with a salad better than roasted sweet potatoes and homemade buttery croissants? And I swear, taking a bite of the licorice-y fennel with the roasted, salted pistachios tasted exactly like bacon. Great combo!
FENNEL, SNAP PEA, AND FRESH FRUIT SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT VINAIGRETTE
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Fennel and Snap Pea Salad from her Meatless Cookbook. I used pear, grapefruit, and avocado as the “fresh fruit” portion of the salad, because that’s what I had on hand. You could easily substitute nectarines, peaches, berries and lime or lemon (in the summer), or pears, apples, and oranges (in the winter). Just be sure to include a citrus to section up in the salad and use the juice for the vinaigrette.
SALAD INGREDIENTS
- 1 fennel bulb, core removed and thinly sliced
- 1 cup snap peas, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 pear, thinly sliced
- 2 grapefruits, sectioned and juiced (put juice in a smaller bowl for later use)
- 1/2 cup roasted/salted pistachios
VINAIGRETTE INGREDIENTS
- juice from two grapefruits
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
SALAD ASSEMBLY
Put all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste in the smaller bowl with the grapefruit juice, and whisk in the olive oil. Whisk in just enough until the dressing comes together. Pour over the fruits and veggies in the larger bowl and gently toss. Serve with whole grain bread (or croissants!).
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MEATLESS MAIN 
Ok complete beginner here…What is fennel exactly? I’ve only had experience with the spice. Where do you buy it? Good earth?
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Fennel is technically part of the carrot family, but it totally doesn’t even look like a carrot! It has long, green fronds that grow pretty yellow flowers (and where you get the fennel seeds from), but the white bulb that grows under ground is what you use for this salad (and many other applications, too!) It tastes and smells like black licorice, and is really fresh and crunchy. You can find it at any grocery store, normally, though the best looking ones I’ve found at Sprouts in Orem.
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