Fennel/Apple/Pear Salad (Serves 3)

1 macintosh apple

1 sweet pear

fennel root same quantity

salt and pepper to taste

juice from 1 lemon

2 medium green chillis

1 bunch fresh coriander leaves chopped fine

I have been wanting to try this for a long time and got the perfect opportunity last week, when we had had the regular salad with the usual veggies for a few days in a row and needed a change.

Thinking about it for a few minutes, I felt that the combination of apple, pear and fennel would be real good. I didn't want to use red onions (the only ones we have at home) due to the pungency, hence went with the fennel root because of its sweet, unique taste and crunchiness that complements the apple and the pear.

This is a very quick salad to prepare and perfect just on its own, or as a starter food.

Cut the apple, pear and fennel root in small, roughly equal size pieces and set in a bowl. Retain the skin on the apple and the pear. Also, make sure that you cut the apple last, so as to not give it much time to oxidize (turn dark in this case), and you can pour the lemon juice as soon as you are done with the cutting.

Add juice from 1 lemon to this , salt and ground pepper to taste, 2 medium green chilis finely chopped, and chopped fresh coriander leaves. Give it all a mix and its ready to go.

Very simple, yet very tasty and healthy. Make sure the fruits are fresh and crunchy.

Health Rating: High

Ingredient Substitute/s: I know that you cant get fennel root in all places. You can replace that with sweet onions (the ones that are less pungent and sweet) if you like, or hard semi ripe peach that would also be perfect.