Annie's Carrot & Fennel Salad w/ Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette

I promised myself that, I would not, definitely NOT .......... lose my brains again! ............
.............. at the market. Despite my good intentions......... I did. I went crazy....... again. But you know what? I bet if you had been there, you would have done exactly the same thing! .........

I'm visiting my daughter in London and there's an amazing street market just blocks from her house. The vendors come early every day, except Sunday, and set up their booths right along the side of a busy local street. - It goes on for blocks!  At the North End Market, you'll find it's mostly fresh fruits and veggies, although on Saturdays, there's even more; olives and olive oils, fresh eggs, fish, cheese and on and on it goes. The produce is beautiful and unbelievably reasonable! They pile their goods into bowls, nice sized bowls, and sell them each for one pound (approximately $1.50) or less. It's really, really hard not to loose your brains ......... check out the pictures, you'll see what I mean:

My little Lilly was all ready for a trip to the market!

 Okay, okay, Lilly agrees that I did loose my brains a bit .............

 .............. but she did too!

My trip to the market was perfect timing as, my sister, Annie had recently sent me a recipe for a fresh carrot salad (check out those gorgeous carrots in the photos!). I have to admit, I wasn't totally sold when I first read the ingredients - it seemed just too simple. But I should have known better, as Annie is a fantastic cook and her recipes are always amazing. This salad is no exception. I added fresh fennel along with the carrots because ........ well,  fennel was one of those delicious delights I just couldn't resist at the market. ...... Don't be fooled by simpleness of this yummy salad, it's fresh, bright and amazingly delicious! In Annie's words, "This carrot salad is a wonderful accompaniment to any sandwich, buffet line or just on it's own. I love using the different options below to change it up a bit. It's a very light tasting salad.....the sunflower oil makes it so."

P.S. I ate this for dinner last night with a pan-seared salmon fillet - it was a fabulous light dinner, so delicious and fresh that ......... I had room for a Snicker-doodle Cookie!

Annie's Carrot & Fennel Salad w/ Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients for the salad:
2 cups julienne-cut carrots (or 4 cups, if making the salad with only carrots)
2 cups julienne-cut fennel , you can substitute julienned jicama or apple
1 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley or cilantro, I used cilantro and it was bright, fresh and delicious
Ingredients for the dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
5 tablespoons sunflower oil
½ teaspoon sea salt (I love Maldon)
freshly ground black pepper
Optional ingredients:
½ cup raisins, currants or diced fresh pinapple, I used currants, loved the sweet touch it gave to each bite.

Directions:
1. Combine vegetables and herbs - drizzle with enough dressing to coat all ingredients. Add optional ingredients, if desired. Divide among 4 salad plates, serve and enjoy!

Adapted from Rachel Khoo - The Little Paris Kitchen

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