Even though I love summer vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant, there is always that mush factor going on. Not that I don’t like mush. But after a summer of lusciousness, in the fall I’m more than ready for some crunch.
My favorite go to salad veg this time of year is fennel. I love it shaved really thin, with just a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Or else I top it with some kind of citrus or other. Pomegranates are good too, or I just add it to a winter slaw.
One thing I’m not overly found of though, is the thinly slicing part of fennel prep. Unless you have a super sharp knife and a steady hand, you either get thicker than optimal slices or missing fingertips.
This past Sunday I got lazy, and just cut the fennel into cubes. We were having pork chops and since I had been planning to make some apple sauce to go with it, I followed the lazy theme and just added cubes of apple to the fennel. A honey dressing pulled it all together.
The resulting salad was crunchy and crisp, kind of like fall on a plate. And no fancy knife work required.
fennel + apple {salad}
Prep
Total
Yield 2
Ingredients
- 1 large bulb of fennel
- 1 large apple
- Dressing:
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 tablespoon aged apple cider vinegar (or other mild/sweet vinegar)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Take off the outer layer of the fennel bulb, which can be tough. Cut the fennel into 1/4 size cubes (more or less). Place in a serving bowl.
- Peel, core and cut the apple into similar sized cubes. Add to bowl.
- Place the honey into a small bowl. With a small whisk or fork, slowly add the olive oil, so that it emulsifies. Add the vinegar, a bit at a time, until it tastes right to you.
- Toss the salad with the dressing, seasoning with salt and pepper.
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I like to add dried cranberries and pinoli (pine nuts) or walnuts or hazelnuts too for more crunch.
Me too!
I agree, Elizabeth…fennel makes such a refreshing salad and they seem to be at our farmers market, so time for fennel salad! My gawd girl…you don’t have one of those handy-dandy slicers? I have one that is smallish and I think it’s made by OXO…nothing fancy, but does the trick! Will have to wait for a couple of months for the blood oranges (from California or at least I hope so), just love the two together…they are not as good as the Italian ones but then beggars, well you know the rest!
Cheers & ciao, P
No, i never got one of those slicers. I guess I should. I’ll put it on my list for Santa.
try sliced fennel, radicchio and red onion with an orange vinargrette