Orange and Fennel Salad

So bright and refreshing

Ah what is better than a nice balanced meal? Seriously nothing. Throughout the day Brandon asked me what I was going to make for dinner. All I knew was that I had to do something with the split chicken breasts we had in the fridge. I also knew we had fingerling potatoes (I knew this because the husband kept talking about how excited he was for roasted fingerlings ALL DAY). But I kept thinking about how something was going to be missing. I'd be missing bright colors, acidity, crunch. Basically... I'd be missing some form of veggies. I've been getting so into fresh produce recently. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but really for our household "fresh produce" is usually something we reserve for the weekend. You can see why I started this blog! I needed a good kick in the behind to get myself into eating much better. Usually we would get bags of steamer veggies, because I would cook meals that didn't take much time on the weekdays. Yep. I was lazy. Glad I used my noggin tonight though! And I'm doing everything in my power to kick that habit of steamer bags right where it hurts. No more for me! Unless I'm in a pinch, of course :) Or I want corn! Gotta have my corn!

So whilst pondering throughout the work day, I decided that I wanted to have some form of salad. Yes, I know you see the picture up there! But the trick was making something that really balanced the meal. I can't think of a better salad for what I made for dinner tonight. Also, I really pinched pennies with it too! My salad cost $7.00 for a huge salad. Seriously! It consisted of the three ingredients you see right there: Orange, fennel and baby arugula. The oranges were great because they doubled as an accompaniment to the salad AND to the chicken. It tied everything together so perfectly. I made a home made lemon-orange dijon vinaigrette to go along with the salad as well. So my seven dollar purchase actually gave ingredients to my salad, main course and the vinaigrette. Pretty nice, if I do say so myself. Also, my kitty tended to think that dinner was pretty awesome too. As you can see, she thinks it's quite tasty. At least... that's what she told me about the chicken.

So without further adieu, here is the simple Orange and Fennel Salad, with home made Lemon Orange vinaigrette!

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Time from start to finish: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

For Salad:
1 package Baby Arugula
2 large Valencia Oranges
1 large bulb Fennel, core removed and cut into thin strips

For Vinaigrette:
Juice of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Orange
1 clove Garlic, minced or grated
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (more or less to your taste)

Wash and dry your arugula, top with the fennel and oranges. Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette together, and lightly dress the salad. Voila! This pairs fantastically with roasted chicken! When I roasted mine, I used some of the orange juice and zest on the chicken breast, so it tied in beautifully. But you can enjoy this on its own, or with some tasty bread, with soup, with whatever your heart desires. It's a perfectly balanced salad with a great dressing. Enjoy!

Eat Well!
Melissa