Orange and fennel salad with blood orange vinaigrette

This salad is a fresh and gorgeous, with contrasting flavours of orange and aniseed from the fennel. The lesson focusses on slicing oranges without squashing the juice out of them in the process!

Fresh from the garden: oranges, blood oranges, fennel, red onion, parsley

Recipe source: Melissa

Serves: 6 or 24 tastes

What to do:

To make the blood orange vinaigrette:

1. Finely grate the rind from the blood orange using the microplane grater and reserve in a screw-top jar.
2. Cut the blood orange in half and juice to make about 1/3 cup juice.
3. Measure and add in the olive oil, blood orange juice, mustard and a pinch of salt and grind of pepper. Screw lid on securely and shake well.

To make the salad:

1. Wash the fennel and trim it. Finely slice the fennel very carefully using a sharp knife.
2. Peel the red onion and cut in half. Finely slice each half to form little half-moons.
3. Peel the remaining oranges and cut in half. Place each half on the chopping board and very thinly slice them, without squashing the orange!
4. Wash the parsley or coriander and spin-dry. Pick off the leaves, discarding the stalks and chop if needed.
5. Toss the orange slices with the fennel and red onion in a bowl to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle with the parsley or coriander and pour over the orange vinaigrette.
6. Toss to combine and then divide into your serving bowls.

Notes: Why is it called a blood orange? What does fennel smell like?