Chicken salad with warm and cold fennel

Tonight I made a new recipe that sounded interesting for a cold night that needed some “crunch”.

It’s a very simple recipe that takes about 30 minutes to throw together. It combines raw fennel with sautéed fennel to deliver a nice balance of tender and crunchy. The orange and ginger brighten the dish so that you forget it’s January! Here’s the recipe.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast

2 oranges

1 clove of garlic

1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger

2 bulbs of fennel

2 Tbsp mustard

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1. Slice the chicken breast into strips. In a bowl, combine the chicken, the clove of garlic and grated ginger. If you love garlic, slice it thinly. Otherwise leave it whole to remove later. Grate the orange peel into the bowl and add the orange juice.
2. Add about 2 Tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to your taste (1/4 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt). Slice the fennel thinly. Add 1/3 of the fennel into the marinade bowl. Reserve the rest. Let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a skillet on the stove. Remove the whole clove (if you left it whole). Pour the contents of the bowl into the skillet.
4. Cool over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Mix mustard with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Combine with the remaining raw fennel and arrange on a serving plate.
6. Add the hot chicken/fennel mixture and serve.