Orange Fennel Salad

Could there be anything more virtuous than eating a salad for dinner?  If you're coming down off a key lime pie bender, getting your fill of fresh vegetables feels especially wholesome.  And this is no limp lettuce and sad tomato salad.  This is a celebration of the flavors of winter.  Yes, even when you've been snowed in for days and can't remember the last time you had a handful of ripe berries, there is still seasonal produce to be found.

There is certainly no lack of citrus in this house.  My wife consumes a grapefruit a day, sometimes even two.  And can you really blame her, when citrus abounds at the markets now, piles of orange and yellow and red and pink and green.  But there is no need to banish these delightful fruits to breakfast.  Pair them with fennel, and you have a winter salad with a kick.     

It can be hard to keep your plate colorful in January and February, so far away from the greens of asparagus spears and sweet peas.  But it's actually the perfect time to pile on some leafy greens - the spinach and kale, the collards and arugula.  Add some sunny citrus, turn up the heat, and you might forget about the temperature outside.

Orange Fennel Salad
Serves 2

2 oranges
2 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 bunch trimmed arugula
1 bulb fennel, trimmed

Cut the peel off the oranges, making sure to remove the pith.  Slice crosswise into rounds and set aside.

Mix olive oil and vinegar together and season and salt and pepper to taste.

Tear arugula into pieces in a salad bowl.  Slice fennel bulb into long strips, and toss with arugula.  Add orange slice and dressing, and toss to mix.