Parsley Fennel Salad Niçoise

This was a simple put-together salad. So what makes it a “Salad Niçoise?” I tend to name things if I put several signature items into the dish. I’m not a purist when it comes to Salad Niçoise, so if it has tuna and olives (preferably niçoise, of course) in it, I’ll ‘abbreviate’ it so people can get what the recipe’s about more quickly.

Rather than using lettuce as a greens base, I used parsley. Added the bright fennel to counterpoint the earthy parsley, and punctuated it with slivers of red onion.

The dressing was equal parts low-fat mayonnaise, capers, vinegar, lemon juice and two parts water.

Selena is an upscale restaurant on Emek Refaim. If this seems to be a trend in my restaurant posts, well it’s because this is a very popular restaurant street in Jerusalem. We were seated right away, and a pleasant waitress told us the specials, then took our order after about ten minutes of our deliberations. The ambiance was nice with soft jazz playing in the background without being overpowering, and it was warm in the restaurant, which was a relief from the cold December night. We noticed that the restaurant’s clientèle were all English-speaking.

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