Fennel & Strawberry Salad

Though I cook everyday, I am not the sharpest tool in the kitchen. I have a few recipe books inherited from my mother but for the most past, bar Dakshin, they are unread. In fact my mother, who was rather passionate about cooking, put together a recipe book for me. Sadly it got lost in a move and I have yet to forgive myself for the loss.

To cut to the chase, I can safely say that food posts here will be rare. And today's post too is not on an elaborate meal but a simple salad.

I like salads, more so when they are made from unusual produce. Example fennel bulbs. They are not unusual here but I have certainly never seen them in India. Perhaps its faint sweetness and the licorice after taste make it unusual for Indian cooking.

The suburb I live in has a fair few greengrocers so good produce is in plenty. Last week I found a strawberry punnet and fresh fennel and decided to make a salad. Admixed with the two is snowpeas, capsicum and pear with basil garnish and some sea salt. Normally I use the fennel raw but this time I slightly blanched both fennel and snowpeas. A drizzle of a dressing that contained lime, black pepper and lavender (from the Kew Gardens store) and the salad was ready. And there it is in the picture above (the fennel is barely visible, its the pale green slivers at the bottom). Given the minimal cooking all the ingredients existed in happy harmony and even if I say so myself it made for a pretty good lunch.

Food blogs I read occasionally: Nordljus and Trotski & Ash. Part of the reason I am sure is the whimsical names :-)