Today’s recipe is a clementine and fennel salad dressed with a bright dill vinaigrette. It’s a light, sweet side salad where the zesty notes of clementine meet the aromatic, anise-scented flavour of fennel. Dill complements citrus beautifully, and the crisp fennel gives this dish a slaw-like texture that works well for summer dinners, shared lunches, picnics or alongside fish. The recipe is vegetarian, vegan and dairy-free, making it suitable for many diets.
Milestones in Blogging
This post marks number one hundred and ninety-six on le petit oeuf, so the big two-hundred is close. Those posts add up to roughly 200,000 words and about 1,000 images. Alongside the blog, I keep up a daily morning pages practice, writing every morning; in its first year this will total nearly 365,000 words. The routine of writing every day has been a discipline of varied emotions and steady commitment.
Action Over Intention
Recently I reflected on ideas from existential and classical thought: that our lives are defined by what we do, not only by what we think or intend. Actions, not inner goodness alone, shape how we are perceived and how we shape our own path. The thought is both freeing and daunting — the capacity to change is constant, but choices are required to transform ideas into reality.
That perspective pairs with teachings that encourage change through varied interactions rather than a fixed, rote existence. We are complex and changing; disrupting daily patterns through deliberate action often leads to growth. In practice, acting on ideas is what creates results, and execution matters more than perfection of the idea itself.
Being a Better Food Writer and Photographer
My aim is to keep writing about food and improving my food photography. That means maintaining certain routines while intentionally varying techniques and approaches. Repeating the same phrases or using identical photographic setups won’t push my work forward. Instead I try new styles, props and compositions to develop my voice and visual language. Those deliberate choices are the actions that lead to improvement and shape how others — and I — judge the work.
Ideas are abundant; what matters is turning one into something tangible. Acting on a single idea consistently often outperforms having many untapped concepts. Each shoot or recipe is an opportunity to experiment and learn, and small changes compound into meaningful progress.
Summer Fennel Salad
This clementine and fennel salad with dill dressing was born from a desire for a refreshing, citrus-forward side. The fennel’s crunch and fennel-anise notes balance the sweet, bright clementine segments, while shallot and dill add aromatic depth. I often imagine serving this with dark rye and gravadlax for a meal that balances texture and flavour.
Clementine and Fennel Salad with a Zesty Dill Dressing
By Gavin Wren
Serves 4 as a side
Uses a knife, chopping board, bowl and a cup
Ingredients
1 bulb fennel, halved then thinly sliced
2 clementines, zested, peeled and each segment sliced into three
1 shallot, finely chopped
8 sprigs of dill, fronds removed and chopped
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons cold-pressed rapeseed oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
Combine the sliced fennel and clementine segments in a bowl.
In a separate cup or small bowl, whisk together the chopped shallot, chopped dill, white balsamic vinegar, rapeseed oil, Dijon mustard, and a good grind of salt and pepper until the dressing is emulsified.
Drizzle the dressing over the fennel and clementines, toss lightly to coat, then adjust seasoning if needed. Serve immediately and enjoy.
