Salad Series Part 1 - Fennel, Chickpea & Chilli

We had folks round for tea on Sunday, and I made 7 salads and a puff pastry tart.... of which I managed to take a grand total of 3 pictures, all of 'in-progress' salads. So it's not really caking or making in the original way I intended my blog to be, centering around baking and crafts, but it's kinda take or leave it, since I've nothing else to post at the moment!

I decided it was a good opportunity to try out some recipes that have been lurking in my Safari bookmarks folder for a while, but as usual, my desire to experiment coupled with a lack of the right ingredients despite 3 trips to the supermarket over the weekend meant the end results bore no resemblance to what I was originally inspired by, nonetheless, they seemed to go down well, so I'm documenting the recipes here for future recreation or corruption by others!

Fennel, Chickpea & Chili Salad (serves 8ish)

• 1 head of fennel thinly sliced
• 1 spring onion finely chopped
• 1 red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped/minced
• 1 400g tin of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 300g tin of green lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped basil
• Fennel fronds chopped if your fennel came with them attached
• Juice of 2 fresh lemons
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp grated fresh Parmesan

I used a mandolin to slice my fennel which got it really nice and fine, although it always scares me a bit using it! The fennel, chickpeas, lentils, spring onion, chili, parsley, basil, & fennel fronds all went into a big mixing bowl. I whisked up the lemon juice and olive oil, then poured it over, mixed well and left to marinate in the fridge for a few hours. Just before serving I mixed through the Parmesan cheese. It tasted good on the day it was made, and even better leftover for lunch the next day!