Seared Fennel & Clementine Salad

This is one of my favorite wintery salads to make this time of year. It is light and bright and the seared fennel adds a nice soft contrast to the other crunchier ingredients on the plate. This salad is delicious any time of year but it is especially good right now with all of the readily available citrus at the market.

Seared Fennel & Clementine Salad

SEARED FENNEL & CLEMENTINE SALAD

recipe from The Forest Feast Mediterranean

2 fennel bulbs (tops removed & set aside)

5 clementines (peel 4 and slice into rounds)

2 T Kalamata olives (whole, pitted)

1 T mint

1 red onion (rings from 1 or 2 round center slices)

Slice the fennel bulbs thinly, keeping some pieces in large slabs. Saute in 1-2 T olive oil & a pinch of salt on medium heat until just a bit tender & golden on both sides (about 5 min.), then spread out on a platter. Top with the clementine rounds, olives, mint, onion rings & a few small fennel fronds. Halve the last clementine & squeeze the juice over the whole platter along with a sprinkle of olive oil, salt & pepper.

Enjoy!

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xx

Erin

Ginger Cookies

In the Fall (or anytime, really) I love the flavors of warm spices like cinnamon and cloves… Chai tea, Cider (or Chaider!) on a foggy morning- so cozy and comforting. Add some spiced ginger cookies, and I am set! Last night we had them on the deck with a cocktail at sunset. So very Fall!

I found this great recipe for chewy Ginger Cookies in the new Better Homes & Gardens Baking Cookbook. Click on over to my full post on their website for the recipe and more photos. It’s a good one!!

By Erin Gleeson, The Forest Feast

Pear Sauce

Think apple sauce, but made with pears instead. You actually don’t need anything but pears for this recipe! If the pears are ripe, the slow cooking will bring all the sugars out and it will be lovely and sweet. To speed up the process you can add a splash of water if you like, and cinnamon can be added as well for an extra kick- but I encourage you to try the simple version! (You might be surprised!) I just mashed mine with a fork, but if you like it super smooth, just pop it in the food processor for a minute.

There’s been a lot of rain here lately which makes for brilliantly green moss everywhere! It’s so cozy to be inside by the fire with a bowl of warm pear sauce.

By Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast