My salad idea. Please offer suggestions.

[Main Line Tracey]

Hello! I am making dinner tomorrow night and am making a salad with a Mediterranean vibe. I was going to use mixed greens, shaved fennel bulb, cucumber and olives. (tomatoes stink around here or I would add them too) Does that sound good? Should I add/subtract anything?

Just so you know the menu, I was going to start the meal with mini spanikopetas, then have the salad and a moussaka with bread, and then rice pudding for dessert.

Sound appealing? Please give me your opinion as this is for my husband's boss and I would like it to be good.

Thanks!

[Main Line Tracey]

Dinner went BEAUTIFULLY! Everything turned out wonderful. I went with home made pitas and store bought hummus (doctored with cumin, kalamata olives & olive oil) salad with mixed greens, supremed orange segments, cucumbers, and kalamata olives. Dinner was moussaka and pitas & dessert was rice pudding. Everyone totally cleaned their plates and my husband said afterwards that he was very impressed.

Thanks so much for the help and suggestions!

[Rhee]

I would use cherry tomatoes sliced in half, lengthwise. They will add a little sweetness and a beautiful color contrast to the salad. Cherry tomatoes are usually tolerable almost anywhere.

[bayoucook]

Your menu sounds great - let us know how it turned out!

[Analisas mom]

Since your not using tomato's I would add beets, feta and some toasted pine nuts.

[4Snisl]

It does sound good! Whenever I think shaved fennel, I think of oranges. Some nice orange supremes might make a nice (and pretty) addition.....

Oh, and do tell- is the rice pudding going to be served warm or cold? Just curious.....:)

[Main Line Tracey]

cold rice pudding. I wanted to make it the day before to check how it tastes. I was going to top with a drizzle of honey.

[alwayscooking]

It's a lovely and very appealing menu.

Your salad would only be improved by monavano's recommendations.

Happy eating!

[salsailsa]

I don't know how the fennel and olive combination will work. Both very strong, competetive flavors.

[hotoynoodle]

fennel and olives are great together.

i also like fennel with orange as other have mentioned. i might take a complete pass on the greens and have fennel, celery and green apple with either almonds or pine nuts on top.

i'd skip the feta, since the spanakopita probably has cheese and the moussaka is so rich.

[monavano]

Sounds great. You could add feta and some red onions. Or, go for simple and clean by pairing the fennel with supremed orange segments.

[jmckee]

If you used the red onion, I'd slice it very thin then soak the rings in ice water for a half hour or so and dry them; it takes a bit of the bite out, so they won't be competing with the fennel and olives.

The orange idea is really nice. I don't much like fennel, but with oranges? Yeah.

[greygarious]

I am not crazy about olives but will eat them. Fennel, no way. There are plenty of people who don't like fennel, anise, licorice, and other ingredients with similar flavor. If you're going to use it, may I suggest putting it on top or at the side so the boss can avoid it if he doesn't like it?

[jmckee]

I'm one of them. But I understand that fennel is possibly something I could get to like if I tried. I just can't try.

I grew it in my garden one year though, because it's a lovely plant.