Red and Green SaladNovember 3, 2005 After what seems an interminable time, I have at last got my New Zealand car legal to drive in Australia. The bureaucracy here is spellbinding. The quarantine people demanded it be steamcleaned at a cost of $175 or "destroyed at a cost of $27." I wasn't about to argue, even though it had been steam-cleaned in NZ. The car had to have a personal import plate fixed to its engine compartment. To get that, an engineer had to inspect it and say it complied with local regulations, then I had to send away for the plate. Meanwhile I had to have a certificate of roadworthiness. I took the car to a garage authorised to issue same. However the car needed a new tyre. But because my "permit to drive an unlicensed car" did not permit me to drive to the tyre people to get a new tyre fitted, I was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. The garage man said he would source a tyre. But he couldn't issue the roadworthy cert as the car still didn't have its personal import plate affixed. It had just arrived in the mail. I could have fixed it myself, but the engineer had to do it. Eventually car and engineer came together and I was able to collect the paperwork and arrange for the car to be registered. However... By the time all this folderol had taken place, my "permit to drive an unlicensed car" had expired. I had to get another. Then a "well-meaning" neighbour had reported there was an "abandoned car with no number plates" sitting in the street. Fortunately I came upon the man from the local authority walking around my car, clipboard in hand, so I was able to vouch for car and that I had an appointmemt to get it registered etc etc. Anticipating the new number plates would not fit the holes already in the car, I found a really nice Honda dealer who said he'd do that for me once I'd collected the plates - and he didn't charge me either. It was almost a fulltime job for a month trying to make my car legal. I was relieved to have plates on the car and not feel like a criminal any longer. First port of call was the local South Melbourne market where I stocked up on fresh vegetables and fruit, delighted my purchasing was no longer restricted to what I could carry home on the tram. Among my purchases was some Florence fennel. Florence fennel or finocchio is a handy vegetable when it comes to adding some interest to a meal. The bulb has a similar texture to celery and can be used raw or cooked. Finocchio (F. vulgare azoricum) is an annual. The large, feathery leaves are borne on very broad, pale green stalks which swell to form an irregular ball. The plant is a native of Italy and has a pleasant non-aggressive aniseed flavour. I like to buy fennel that still has plenty of the leafy growth still attached as this is useful as a garnish. Fennel is rich in vitamin A and contains a fair amount of calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. And it’s fat-free. Fennel can be kept in the fridge for four or five days but it tends to lose its delicate flavour if stored too long. Buy a medium bulb or a couple of long slender ones in preference to a large one - just enough for one meal at a time. Because fennel has a pleasant crunch, it makes a good contrast to the ingredients in today’s simple salad. Double the ingredients for a larger salad. Red and green salad
Slice the tomatoes. Halve, peel and sliced or dice the avocado and toss in half of the lemon juice to preserve the colour. Remove the broad outer layers of the fennel bulb and cut into matchstick pieces. Save some of the feathery top for garnish. Arrange the tomato and avocado on a serving platter and scatter the fennel around the edge. Shake together the remaining lemon juice and other ingredients and sprinkle over the salad. Allow to stand 15 minutes before serving and garnish with the feathery bits. This salad goes well with sliced smoked chicken breast.
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3 or 4 medium tomatoes| ©2000-2011 Pat Churchill