Ellie P. Campbell Photography

Photographer, blogger, and friend Cat Pennenga and I share a love of trying relatively simple, yummy recipes and sharing them through photos. Her recent food posts have made my mouth water and had me missing recipe blogging, and since I’ve been itching to try some of Heidi Swanson of 101cookbooks.com‘s new recipes, we decided to make some food, take some photos, and eat together! Fun and yum.

We went with a lemon and fennel theme – two of the best ingredients ever. Mmm. Luckily, Heidi had two lemon-fennel (or anise) recipes that were perfect for lunch on a hot summer day (which it seems everyone’s feeling these days, not just those of us in sticky Florida).

The first dish is a a version of Heidi’s Shaved Fennel Salad, the recipe for which is also in her latest cookbook, Super Natural Every Day (why do I not own this yet?). We made some adjustments due to availability (i.e., gross-looking arugula at the supermarket) and our whims.

Shaved Fennel Salad, serves 2-4

• 1 medium-large zucchini, sliced into thin coins
• 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup loosely chopped fresh dill
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• fine grain sea salt
• 3-4 generous handfuls of Organic Girl’s super greens (or arugula)
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

optional crostini side: Drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt over 2-3 sourdough slices. Broil for about two minutes – but watch it carefully; they burn fast! Then slice into cracker-sized strips.

For the salad, instead of using raw zucchini, we suggest tossing the coins in a little olive oil and salt and broiling them for about 5 minutes. Then, toss all of the ingredients together and eat!

The next recipe is super simple and so deliciously refreshing – as a drink (or cocktail) or icy sorbet. Such a perfect, healthy summer treat!

Lemon Anise Slush, serves 4-6

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)
• 1/3 cup honey, plus more for drizzling
• 3/4 teaspoon anise seeds, plus more for a sprinkle
• 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
• ice cubes (to fill the blender, about 3 cups)

Blend it all together. Serve immediately as a slushy drink (and spike with the anise-flavored Sambuca, if you want to take it up a notch), or freeze for a couple hours and serve as a sorbet-like treat. Drizzle a bit of honey, and sprinkle some anise seeds on top before serving.

Enjoy!

And here’s a little of what was going on behind the scenes:

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