Fennel, Optional

First I'm going to give you the original recipe, which is so delicious and easy.  Then I'm going to give you the options.  The reason that there are options is because I went to the produce department of our local grocer and asked if they had any fennel.  The person in charge looked at me as if I had just asked for the head of a walrus on a platter.  No, you won't find fennel in every produce department.  When you do, however, it makes one tasty summer salad.


Ingredients:
  1 bulb of fennel, sliced thin
  1 small red onion, sliced thin
  olive oil
  balsamic vinegar
  1/2 to 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Simply place the thinly sliced fennel and red onion on a plate, sprinkle with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and top with the Parmesan cheese.  I have made this original version as listed above and it's delicious.  But not every dish works out as planned

One particular day I couldn't find fennel, or the head of a walrus, so I used napa cabbage.  You could also use regular cabbage but I like the mild flavor of napa cabbage.  Also, I had planned to make a meal out of this salad so I began with a layer of lettuce from the garden before I put down the napa cabbage and red onion.  And finally, to give the dish a bit of color, I added some slices of tomato, which look amazingly like red pepper in the picture.  Actually, almost any veggie would be lovely.

For the non-vegetarians a bit of chicken or tuna or crispy bacon could be added.  

Enjoy!