Arugula Salad with Grilled Fennel, Grapefruit & Avocado

Salads are one of my favorite things to make, and I always make my own salad dressing. If you've done it a few times, you'll never buy anything in the bottle again. Have a few good vinegars (white wine, balsamic, rice, etc.) on hand, and combine with fresh or dried herbs, some mustard, some lemon, olive oil, whatever. I usually just make it up based on my ingredients, and hardly ever measure. Once you get the hang of it, it's really quite fun. Anyway, the grilled fennel in this salad was fantastic! It's a little extra effort for a salad, but definitely worth it.

Dressing

1/4 cup EVOO

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp Italian herb seasoning

fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously. This will be more than you need, but it keeps in the fridge for weeks.

Salad

1 large organic fennel bulb

1 teaspoon EVOO

salt & pepper

4-5 handfuls organic arugula

1 organic ruby red grapefruit, peeled & sliced into 1" wedges

1 organic avocado, chopped

1/8 cup organic pumpkin seeds, toasted with a pinch of salt

Slice the ends off the fennel bulb and discard. Cut bulb into 1/4-1/2" thick slices. Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on bbq or in grill pan for about 5-7 min on each side. Let cool, then give the pile 1 or 2 chops to make bite size pieces. You can make this ahead and put in the fridge until ready to make the salad. Toast pumpkin seeds. Combine salad ingredients with dressing into large salad bowl and serve.