I saw this recipe in Cooking Light – and because of my obsession with fennel, I had to make it.  The only problem was that I do not have a mandoline.  So, after doing some reasearch online – I decided I would go to the store and buy one.  I cook enough, I should probably just have one, as I was justifying the expense.  I was just about to leave, when my mother called – and convinced me not to bother.  She has one – top of the line – and she said it is hard to use and wouldn’t spend the money.  So I settled on my back-up plan – using a good vegetable peeler – and it worked great.  You can see by the picture, the fennel was definitely shaved thin – and the salad was terrific.  So don’t worry if you don’t have a mandoline – a good old-fashioned vegetable peeler will do just fine.

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1  tablespoon  sherry vinegar
• 1  teaspoon  grated orange rind
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  fresh orange juice
• 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• 3  medium fennel bulbs with stalks (about 4 pounds)
• 2  cups  orange sections (about 2 large oranges)
• 1/2  cup  coarsely chopped pitted green olives