Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Lemon and fresh Fennel Salsa


This is a great salsa that works very well with any kind of white fish. It's crispy, sweet, sour, cool, fresh and summery! I dusted some grouper fillets with a mixture of Quinoa flour, lemon zest, freshly grated Pecorino-Romano, salt and pepper and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil until nice and brown. Fish, salsa and a crispy green salad with fresh herbs and a light lemon dressing turned out to be a very simple, yet elegant and satisfying dinner.

Ingredients
  • 1/2 small fennel bulb (reserve some of the leaves), cut in half lengthwise, cored and cut in thin slices crosswise
  • 2 small lemons, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, and cut again lengthwise to have thin half moons
  • 1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded (I like to use a spoon to scrape the seeds) and cut thinly crosswise
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped (with or without seeds)
  • 10 big green olives, cut in half lengthwise, than cut thinly lengthwise
  • 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
  • 2 tbsp of the reserved fennel leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Combine everything in a mixing bowl and marinate for approximately 20 minutes before serving. Oranges would be a nice addition to this salsa, it was actually my original idea but I was out of oranges.

Let me know how you like it!