With the cold season right ahead of me, I don’t know why, but my body seems to beg me for carbs. Yes, I’m sure you agree, in this period of the year, eating healthy is much harder than any other time of year. To fool my irrepressible craving for high calorie and high carb food, I try to be creative and find new recipes to make my meals more appealing (without increasing my love handles too much 😉 ).

I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of “cooked fennel” because in my opinion its anise-like flavor becomes too strong once it’s cooked.  Eating fennel raw, instead, helps to  keep its taste light and delicate, and perfect to be mixed with sweet ingredients.

Be very careful when you buy fennel, because it could have two different shapes (and different consistency). The so-called “Male Fennel (finocchio Maschio)”  looks more rounded and swollen, and is more meaty and less fibrous, and is better suited to be eaten raw (the one on the left of the picture).  The “Female Fennel (Finocchio Femmina)” instead, looks more stretched and fibrous and is definitely better cooked (the one on the right of the picture).

Choose a “male fennel” for this salad, to get the best result!

Honestly this dish is not exactly something I’ve invented, but just a dish that many years ago I ate in a “multiethnic” restaurant and that they described as a Lapland dish. Well, frankly speaking, I haven’t found any website that has confirmed the authenticity of this information, but what is it for sure is that this salad is absolutely delicious, low in carbs, and sweet enough to calm down my seasonal (or periodic, I would confess) sweet tooth.

Just two ingredients, a typical Italian dressing (which I choose but not sure is what I ate that time), and in few minutes you will enjoy a new super healthy food!

I would add that this recipe looks very fancy, so you can decide to make it as an appetizer or a side dish at any kind of party!

 

INGREDIENTS for a big salad bowl

1 fennel – 1 finocchio

1 pear (soft but not too ripe) – una pera (morbida ma non troppo matura)

a dust of black pepper – una spolverata di pepe

sea salt to taste – sale quanto basta

2 tsp. olive oil  – 2 cucchiaini di olio di oliva

2 tbs. wine vinegar – 2 cucchiai da tavola di aceto di vino

DIRECTION

Clean up the fennel, cutting down the small leaves and the steams and wash it one-piece. It has to look like this.

Sliced the  fennel as thin as you can (if you own an electric slicer, don’t hesitate to use it!)

Peel the pear and cut it in cubes or small pieces.   Mix the two ingredients together and dress with salt, olive oil, vinegar, and black pepper.

Now sit down, and enjoy it. No regret. You are eating clean 😉

LEARNT IT, MADE IT, LOVED IT!

Tips: – Fennel is super healthy, and if you would like to find out all its good properties, click here.

            – Cut the pear in pretty big cubes if you want to be able to distinguish the taste of the pear from the fennel while you eat the salad. To have a perfect fusion of the tastes, cut the pear  about 1/4 inch thin.

I really hope you like this recipe, and please, if you do,

share it, like it, leave a comment, subscribe, and help support my blog!

Much thanks,

Silvia