Upgrade your Kitchen Tools

Recipe: Arugula and Shaved Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Some months ago, while browsing in a kitchen store (one of my favorite types of retail therapy, along with bookstores and hardware stores), I came across a set of measuring spoons that appealed to me. The design was quite different from the battered and much used set I had been using forever. 

And then I also saw a set of metal measuring cups - also pretty and different. 

My old measuring cups and spoons were perfectly fine and functional. I didn’t need new ones. And I can tend toward the practical when it comes to this kind of shopping. 

But I got them anyway. Even months later, when I pull one or the other out of the crowded kitchen tool drawer, or I just open the drawer to retrieve something else, I feel happy (yes, they spark joy!). 

Cooking is creative and fun, and also a chore. Surrounding yourself with tools that both function well and are pleasing to the eye and in the hand does make a difference, helping to swing the energy of cooking more towards fun and less towards work. 

Upgrade one (or more!) of your most used kitchen tools, just because.

Functional if fine, pleasing is better!

Zesty!

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch arugula, washed (and torn into smaller pieces if needed)

• 1 fennel bulb

• Juice of 1 Meyer lemon

• 3-4 T good olive oil – adjust according to how large the lemon is

• 1 small or 1⁄2 large clove of garlic, crushed

• Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

• (Day 22 and Beyond: shaved parmesan to taste)

Directions

1. Place the arugula into a large salad bowl.

2. Using a mandoline, shave the fennel into thin slices. If you don’t have one, use a knife to make even, thin slices.

3. Add the shaved fennel to the arugula.

4. Combine all the ingredients for the salad dressing and whisk until emulsified.

5. Pour over the salad and toss well.

6. If Day 22 and Beyond: add some shaved parmesan

Serves 3-4