Well, here I am in Italy, in the summer, and, of course the flat-leaf parsley is glorious. So it seems right that it’s the parsley which is really the hero of this salty (thanks to the feta) salad, with the fennel adding a sophisticated note of aniseed.

Dead simple, simply wonderful!

This parsley salad goes especially well with Exotic and Easy Za’atar Chicken.

Recipe for flat-leaf parsley, fennel and feta salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 fennel bulbs
• 1 x 25g/1 oz bunch of parsley
• 200g/7 oz feta
• 4 tbsps olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Trim off the stalks and any damaged parts of the fennel bulbs, retaining the feathery fronds.
2. Cut them vertically in half, and then again. Slice them as thinly as you possibly can – ideally with a mandolin.
3. Put into a salad bowl. Snip in the parsley (including some of the stems where there is a lot of flavour).
4. Crumble in the feta.
5. Mix together the oil, vinegar and seasoning (remember to TASTE as you do this – the feta is quite salty).
6. Pour over and toss the salad. Serve, garnished with some of the fennel fronds.