prawn orange and fennel salad- grain of salt

ok, so i’m not breaking any ground with this here salad, but you know what they say: if it ain’t broke, cook it? yeah. anyway, the prawn, fennel, orange salad is a summer classic and is not only delicious but rather quenching too. 

variations of this salad will often include black olives, hazelnuts, pomegranate, feta, apple, chilli… the list is endless. ultimately, it is all about the anise flavour and crunch of the fennel, the mild zesty sweetness of the orange combined with the soft flesh of the prawns. winner.

for this particular edition above, i took one large orange, removed the outer peel and white pith and finely sliced it in to circles. i then lay these somewhat attractively on a round plate. in a bowl i combined sixteen medium cooked king prawns (peeled and deveined with tails on- it looks pretty), one medium fennel bulb, shaved finely, the delicate green fennel tops and a small handful of mixed mesclun leaves. this was a last minute decision, as the salad looked a little bland without some more substantial hits of green. dress this with the juice of another half orange, a splash of red wine vinegar two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. toss the salad in the dressing, then sit atop the oranges.

and there you have it- my summery salad. orange you glad?

yep. i went there.