Veggies ~ Salads: Fennel with Pine Nuts ~

This is a light and easy salad to have in the winter with a hearty soup such as the Lentil With Chorizo we ate this evening. The idea comes from a note in my Laura Calder cookbook, French Taste: Elegant and Everyday Eating. She refers to this as an "easy bite." It is not even written up as a recipe~

Ingredients~

• 1 large fennel bulb, lightly peeled with veggie peeler and trimmed of stocks (save fronds to use as garnish --my addition!)
• 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts (my personal addition!)
• drizzle extra virgin olive oil
• 1 TBS. lemon juice (fresh)
• fleur de sel
• paprika
• cracked pepper (my addition!)

This is an easy one! Peel bulb ever so slightly to get the outer bits off. Trim off stocks and reserve fronds to mince and use for garnish. Cut in half and cut out center core. Julienne or cut into thin strips. Toast pine nuts in dry skillet for about 7 minutes on high til golden. Toss into fennel. Drizzle on olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with fleur de sel, paprika, and cracked pepper. Toss and serve. It really is quite elegant! Enjoy!