Weeknight Dinner: Good Vegetarian

Roast Fennel and Orange Salad with a citrus vinaigrette
(it tastes way better than it looks)

Zucchini batons with a polenta-herb crumb served with a saffron aïoli dipping sauce

Everyone knows that anything, well, almost anything fried is delicious so it's without saying that dinner was absolutely fabulous tonight. I don't think Will and I have actually sat down and had dinner together since January or February so on my unexpected day off I organised 5-course meal: Zucchini Batons with Saffron-Aïoli (adapted from a dish a chef once made for me because I was vegetarian), Roast Fennel and Orange Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette (adapted Vegie Food), Pumpkin and Mint Ravioli (a disaster due to temperamental store bought pasta dough), a cheese plate with Maggie Beer's quince paste, a Pont L'Eveque and fresh Asiago with savoury biscuits and sliced baguette, and finally a white chocolate pudding cake -- which is waiting to be baked as I type. To wash everything down neatly, we opened a bottle of Peter Lehman Semillon.

The zucchini batons and the salad were by far the best parts of the meal, but the salad from Vegie Food was outstanding. The faint hint of aniseed from the fennel and the refreshing burst of citrus from the chilled orange segments was a surprisingly tasty combination:

Roasted Fennel and Orange Salad (serves 2)

4 baby fennel bulbs
2.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 orange
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of roughly chopped mint, no stems
1/2 tablespoons of roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Trim the fronds (the frilly green leaves) from the top of the fennel and set aside. Remove the stalks and cut a slice off the base of each fennel by 5 mm. Slice each bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half into three. Arrange on a baking tray, drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to evenly coat them with oil and seasoning. Grill the fennel until caramelised, turning twice during cooking. Allow to cool and toss through the mint and parsley.

2. Segment the orange over a bowl to catch any juices. Squeeze any juice remaining in the "membranes" into the bowl as well. Whisk 2 tablespoons of oil together with the orange and lemon juice until more or less emulsified. Season with a bit of salt to taste.

3. To assemble the salad on each plate, place the fennel in the center of each plate to form a small mound. Arrange the orange segments over the mound. Spoon the dressing around the edges of the plate and drizzle a bit over the salad. Use a few of the reserved fronds to garnish.