ode to anchovy

I'm a blogging failure for not taking pictures of last night's meal. So I had to snag it from Gourmet. But they deserve almost all of the credit anyways because this recipe (pasta with zucchini and anchovies), my friends, is DAMN GOOD. So good, in fact, that I turned an anchovy hater into an anchovy lover. Because you know what? If you don't like anchovy, I guarantee you haven't tried it. Don't look at me like that. It's true. And if you fall into that category, first I feel a little bit sad for you, and second, you're going to try this recipe out because in the end, you are going to flat out LOVE what you taste.

Served alongside this luscious spaghetti was a simple fennel, orange, and red onion salad that was beautiful dressed with my white balsamic vinaigrette and some fennel frawns. It is this salad that makes me especially sad I was not with camera in hand for. It looked beautiful when it hit the table. Toot. Toot.

And talk about quick! As an unexpected overachiever last night, I went ahead and prepped all my ingredients and arranged the salad and threw it into the fridge (only because I had the time!). Once my first guest arrived, the pasta was in the pot and the onions were cooking away and within 15 minutes or so, dinner was on the table.

The recipe for the zucchini and anchovy pasta is linked up above (Note: I added 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes instead of the black pepper and also added a 1/4 cup of chopped mint) and here's the fennel and orange salad. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Fennel and Orange Salad

2 medium to large sized fennel bulbs, core removed and thinly sliced (reserve some frawns for garnish)
3 oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced

Arrange all the ingredients on a platter (get creative!). Garnish with the fennel frawns on top and drizzle with white balsamic vinaigrette.