Jicama, Orange, and Fennel Salad

Sunday evening we had an impromptu dinner party. Very "Hey, I just bought all of these ingredients and it'll make a bunch, let's invite friends!" So we did.  I followed Shutterbean's recipe for homemade pizza and paired it with Moosewood's Jicama, Orange, and Fennel Salad. I know it's in bad taste to "try out" recipes on friends, but I was confident and calm and I've been drinking lots of water and getting great nights of sleep! I was up to the challenge.

Jicama is a crazy huge root vegetable that tastes like a raw potato. It's not my favorite thing, but once peeled and cut up it added a delicate crunch to the salad.  Fennel bulb is one of my all-time favorite flavor punches.  Without a mandolin, it is difficult to slice thinly (almost typed "thin slicely") but I did my best and nearly hit the mark.

The salad also has slices of orange, a little arugula and spinach, and a very simple balsamic dressing. The recipe describes plating the salads elaborately with starbursts of spinach laid out and drizzles of dressing on each plate. I went the easy route and tossed everything together. Next time I will be fancy!

California Waldorf Salad

I'm a little tired and a little hungry, but I really want to tell you about the wonderful salad I made yesterday. It's the California Waldorf Salad, one of the four variations in the New Moosewood Cookbook. The dressing was a combination of yogurt, avocado, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a drizzle of honey. The dressing was blended up and poured over the salad components: tart apples, sections of orange, minced celery, and golden raisins. The top was carefully decorated with slices of mango.

I miss California. This salad didn't exactly take me there, though it was delicious ... even better the next day, in fact! Hopefully I can go back to California soon.  In the meantime I am going to make this pasta salad and sleep!

Other variations of Waldorf I have made:
Waldorf Deluxe
Fruit &Vegetable Waldorf Salad

Only one more to complete the set!