Orange Salad-Insalata d'Arancia

Sicily is the home of citrus in Europe. Look in the side door of restaurants around the continent and you'll see Sicilian names on the fruit cartons like Paternò (CT), our Sicilian family's home town.

Flying into the Catania airport you see the presently very active volcano Etna, and miles of orange and lemon trees. The volcano erupted a few centuries back covering most of the southeastern side of Sicily, leaving 10 feet or more of lava and ash to enrich the soil of the future, the result being more oranges than you've ever seen in all of Florida.

In winter and early spring the oranges are in full swing, and so economical it is a shame not find some wonderful use to consume large quantities of them. Orange salad is one way.

We eat orange salad either plain with onion, or combined with sliced fresh fennel, or in this case with fennel and avocado (only in America though!). There are 'food rules' you must abide by. Orange salad is always dressed with olive oil and salt, but the acid changes depending on what else you're putting in. The main rule is, if you add fennel it must be lemon juice. Period.

Original orange salad:

10 naval oranges
1/2 bunch green onion, chopped
Or 1/4 cup thinly sliced red or white onion
Salt
Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar.

Cut the ends off the oranges and then slice the skin off in strips, removing the white parts. Cut peeled orange in half, then each half in thirds and thirds again, making 9 bite sized pieces of each half. If you get the hang of this method you'll come to love it for cutting all kinds of fruit, like cantaloupe and watermelon.

Place oranges in glass bowl. Add chopped onion, mix, and dress with oil and vinegar and salt. Mix well and taste. It should be sweet and tangy with a taste of salt. Serve immediately or set aside for 30 min to blend flavors. Enough for 4-5.

Orange Fennel Avocado Salad

1/2 of a large fennel bulb
3 oranges, peeled and chopped as above
1 large avocado, seeded and cut in cubes.

Cut the fennel in half again, and slice thinly. Place in bowl with the orange bites, and dress with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add the avocado at the end and toss immediately to coat with lemon. Taste and adjust dressing. A little extra salt is in order because of the avocado. Yum. Serves 4.

Don't skimp on the olive oil just because it seems odd to put it on fruit. You should see a little shine on the fruit from it after its mixed. Use good oil too. Nice and green. Lastly don't skimp on the salt, and use good salt. I like Real Salt, a little lighter flavor and full of minerals.

Enjoy!