Chopped Fennel, Beet, Pear and Endive with Ginger-Lime Dressing

Ingredients: Fresh fennel, beets, pears, belgian endive, fresh ginger, lime juice, honey, sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper

After my pork extravaganza at Chung King, and a week on the road for work, last week I faced a veggie emergency. Hurry, hurry, get something healthy into her mouth--stat!

I had a vague recollection of purchasing some big ol' beets at the Larchmont Farmers' Market a few weeks ago, and sure enough, they were still languishing in my crisper. After a wash and a trim, I slicked them with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, wrapped 'em in tinfoil and shoved them in a 425 degree oven for about 50 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, I diced a couple of fennel bulbs, chopped some belgian endive, and whipped up a ginger-lime dressing. For the dressing, you grate a 1 inch piece of ginger into a bowl, add three tablespoons of lime juice, a tablespoon of honey, and a splash or two of sherry vinegar and stir. Then slowly add 5-6 tablespoons of olive oil, whisking the entire time to emulsify. Then season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the beets finish roasting, remove from the tinfoil and let cool. Be patient, or your fingertips will regret it! When cool, the beet skins should slide right off with a little tug. Dice your beets the same size as the fennel, then dice your pears as well. On a plate, arrange a line of chopped fennel, about 1 inch wide. Next to it, arrange a line of pear. Then, a line of beets, followed by a line of endive, all the same 1 inch width. Drizzle your dressing over the top, and crunch away.

Photo at top, left to right: fennel bulbs by Year of Eats; beets by Fotodawg; pear by Geishaboy5000; endive by Marc Delhaye