Blood Orange, Fennel, and Cabbage Salad

In addition to making a tasty soup on Sunday, I also make this fantastic salad. It's crunchy and fresh tasting; lightly sweet and tart. I tweaked a dressing recipe from an older post, and altered it by using blood oranges since they are in season and possibly the best citrus fruit we have in the produce department right now. The dressing comes out a little pink, but it tastes great and looks pretty against the pieces of blood orange.

Blood Orange, Fennel, and Cabbage Salad
serves 4
For salad:
A mixture of red, savoy and/or green cabbage and Italian kale, washed and shredded into fine ribbons
1 bulb fennel, chopped into very small pieces
A large handful of fresh mint, washed, and sliced
2 blood oranges, peeled, segmented, and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds

For dressing
:

2 Tbsp. olive oil



zest of 1 blood orange

juice of 1 blood orange

1 Tbsp. liquid honey (or agave, maple syrup)


1/3 cup roasted tahini


Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Fill each plate with your cabbage/kale mixture. Top each plate with mint, fennel, and blood orange pieces. Drizzle dressing on top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve.
Note: After I made this, I kind of wished I'd dressed the salad before plating it. So for a more even dispersion of dressing, put the dressing in a large bowl, add a little water to thin it down, then add the cabbage mixture and toss to coat.  Proceed with platting and topping the salad.