I need another cookbook like I need a hole in the head

When I started this blog, I was truly excited by the thought that I now had a place to come and share with everyone whatever had excited me about food that day. Sadly, I have not lived up to my end of the bargain! Life gets busy, I get distracted, my computer takes a dump... excuses, excuses. I currently have 3 unfinished blogs just sitting in literary limbo, waiting to be shared.

1) Wine tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains: Lovely!
2) Dinner at Flea St Cafe: Amazingly Scrumptious.
3) Cauliflower Fried Rice: Much better than it sounds, I promise.

And share I will, soon. Cox Cable just figured out we'd been getting free tv and put a stop to that pronto, so I really don't have much to do anymore.

But for the time being, this will have to suffice. What I am most excited about today is the discovery of the blog 101 Cookbooks, and a book from the blogs author titled (big breath) Super Natural Cooking: 5 Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Foods Into Your Cooking. whew!

Just from this excerpt on Amazon I knew I must have it: "There's definitely room for improvement in the average American pantry- the flour is all purpose, the sugar is white, and just about everything else is some combination of chemical-laden, highly refined and nutritionally barren."
Wow.
I mean, Wow. Right on!

So I ordered her book, and the companion that goes with it: Super Natural Everyday that featured this Ah-mayzing recipe for shaved fennel salad. Make this. Fennel is in season right now so you really should take advantage. You won't be sorry.

Shaved Fennel Salad

Mandolin preferred, but if you're using a knife to prep here, do your best to slice things very, very thinly - not quite see through thin, but close

1 medium-large zucchini, sliced into paper thin coins
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and shaved paper-thin
2/3 cup / .5oz/ 15g loosely chopped fresh dill
1/3 cup / 80ml fresh lemon juice, plus more if needed
1/3 cup / 80ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
fine grain sea salt
4 or 5 generous handfuls arugula
Honey, if needed
1/2 cup / 2 oz/ 60g pine nuts, toasted (I used almonds)
1/3 cup / 2 oz / 60g / feta cheese, crumbled

Combine the zucchini, fennel and dill in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice, olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside and marinate for 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
When you are ready to serve the salad, put the arugula in a large bowl. Scoop all of the zucchini and fennel onto the arugula, and pour most of the lemon juice dressing on top of that. Toss gently but thoroughly. Taste and adjust with more of the dressing, olive oil, lemon juice, or salt if needed. If the lemons were particularly tart, you may need to counter the pucker-factor by adding a tiny drizzle of honey into the salad at this point. Let your taste buds guide you. Serve topped with pine nuts and feta.
Serves 4 to 6.

Prep time: 10 min