Orange salad: healthy, fresh and fanciful

Typically Sicilian, it's healthy, fresh and fanciful! It's a winter salad!

My main regret is we can't have it during those Sicilian sunny and hot summer days when you need anything helpful to cool down and the temperature outside is about 40/42°C!

Preparing the salad
serves 2 people

2 medium/big oranges

4/6 black olives

half a medium fennel

half a red onion

(we call them "onions from Tropea" a small town in Calabria along the Tyrrenian coast or "cipolla Calabria")

OR 2 long green onions (I'm not sure if you can find it out of Italy)

salt

extra virgin olive oil

1. Skin the red onion, cut it upright into 2 pieces and slice it finely. Take a bowl, fill it with cold water, put one tsp of salt and then the onion. Let it rest for a couple of hours so to help the onion to get rid of its bitter taste.

You do not need to do it if you use the long green ones.

2. Peel the organges: cut the head and foot first, place the orange upright and peel it vertically so to remove the peel and the white part under it (the orange must be with no filaments. Then cut the orange in segments and then each segment into 2 or 3 parts.

3. Stone the olives and cut them in pieces.

4. Remove the external leaf of the fennel,put it upright and cut vertically and finely. Wash it carefully with a bit of sodium bicarbonate (1 tsp in fine, it helps to clean from any impurity).
5. Wipe the onion.
6. Mix all ingredients, dress with salt and extra virgin olive oil. Let it rest 30 minutes before serving it. Use the salad as side-dish with roast meat or fish.

Buon appetito!

Text and pictures copyright by Doriana Briguglio