Citrus Fennel Salad

Giada, Ina, Paula, Emeril, Bobby and all those people on the Food Network always make it look so easy.  It simply just ain't.  Especially when you don't have an assistant or someone to clean up after you.

I found this recipe in Giada's collection and since I wanted something summery and citrusy to help chase off the winter blues at our dinner party, I settled on this.  I hate licorice, but, love fennel - go figure and if I find a salad recipe with raw fennel, I'm going to try it.  It has such great crunchiness.  Also, anything with lots of basil in it is always good in my book -- since come summertime, I run out of things to do with it.

I made this for the dinner party the other night and besides struggling with getting the citrus out of the membranes, oranges that were seriously NOT juicy, I wish I would have made this the night before giving the flavors more time to meld.   Lesson learned.

Fennel Citrus Salad
1 large orange, peeled and ends trimmed
1 grapefruit, peeled and ends trimmed
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Place a sieve over a medium bowl. Hold an orange over the bowl, and using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments and let them fall into the sieve. Repeat with the grapefruit. Squeeze the membranes over the bowl to extract as much juice as possible, reserving the juices in the bottom of the bowl. Place the fruit segments and fennel in a salad bowl.

In a blender or the bowl of a small food processor, blend together the oil, basil and 3 tablespoons of the reserved juice until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour over the fruit and fennel. Add the chopped walnuts and toss until all the ingredients are coated.