Chicken with Fennel-Orange Salad

Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

• 1½ lbs chicken cutlets
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp coriander
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 oranges, segmented
• 1 c parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and coriander.  In batches, cook in about 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat until golden.  Toss sliced fennel bulb with salt, orange segments, parsley leaves, remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, and the white wine vinegar.  Serve with the chicken.

This is the last recipe I had to make from Real Simple’s 10 Ideas for: Chicken Cutlets.  This is a very light dish.  It’s very easy to make and the fennel and orange topping adds a nice, delicate flavoring to the whole thing.

The only challenging part of this dish was finding the fennel bulb.  I have never worked with fennel bulb, and as far I know I’ve never even tasted it before either.  While purusing the produce aisles there wasn’t a sign that clearly marked any such fennel.  So I whipped out my smart phone and did a Google search.  Got it!  I made my way up to the register and even the cashier had to ask what it was.  I rattled the name and spelling off to her and she couldn’t find it!  She enlisted the help of a very friendly, veteran cashier who informed us that fennel is also referred to as anise.  With that the price was found and I was able to go on my way.  If you’ve never tried fennel bulb, it does look like onion but tastes like a mix between cucumber and carrot.

Especially with it’s fresh citrus taste this is a great dish for the spring and summer time that’s just around the corner!