If you’re only using the fennel bulb, you are missing out on so much! This Fennel Orange Salad uses the fronds (the frilly green tops) and stems (and/or bulb) of the plant, so you get to enjoy so much more of this treasured herb/veggie. This fennel orange salad has such a beautiful mix of textures and flavors, with juicy mandarin oranges, fresh greens, crunchy raw fennel, toasted walnuts and creamy goat cheese. Crunchy fennel and juicy orange are such a perfect match!
Why Eat Fennel?
First of all, fennel fronds have a beautiful scent and light anise flavor that I might dare to say tastes even better than dill! I seek it out for my garden because I love the flavor of it SO much.
Raw fennel stems and bulbs are crunchy and fibrous, much like celery. Except they have that nice anise undertone. So raw fennel stems and bulbs are great to toss on salads, but you do need to take care to chop the stems fine.
Second, fennel has a ton of health benefits. Both low in calories and high in nutrients and fiber, fennel can help suppress your appetite (great for weight loss), keep your cardiovascular system running great, help keep you regular, fight cancer and even can help with breast feeding. Plus it may even help with menopausal symptoms, help with mental health, help reduce inflammation and more.
How Hard is it to Grow Fennel?
If you’re trying to grow fennel starting from seed, you might find fennel a little hard to get started. But once it’s started, it’s super simple to grow. With a regular watering and not TOO much sun, the fennel will grow like mad, producing loads of fronds (the leafy greens on top), lots of stalks, and, if you’re lucky, a chunky bulb as well. All parts of the plant are edible.
Technically you can even eat the root (although I have not tried that yet). Personally, I’m so in love with the fronds that I could almost care less about the rest of the plant. But these are the days of spendy groceries. So I figure it behooves us to see how we can make more of what we’ve got. So here I am, chopping up the stems of my fennel plant to throw in my salad.
How to make this Fennel Orange Salad?
First you need to make pesto with the frilly fronds. The fronds have a beautiful fragrant dill-like flavor with a hint of anise that is just delightful. Next, whisk a bit of that yummy fennel pesto with some mustard and fresh-squeezed orange juice to make a tasty salad dressing.
Then you get to use the stems and/or bulb to add crunch, flavor and fiber to the salad. Finally, the finishing touches: juicy oranges, crunchy toasted walnuts and creamy goat cheese (or feta) crumbles. And of course, a drizzle of that amazing dressing.
Fennel Orange Salad
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 0 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: 1 – 2 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chopped
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the 3-ingredient fennel orange dressing:
- Juice from 1 fresh mandarin orange
- 1 teaspoon fennel pesto (or to taste) – recipe here
- 1 teaspoon Dijon or German style mustard (or to taste)
For the salad:
- Fresh greens
- Chopped fennel bulb and/or finely chopped stalks
- Fresh mandarin (or other) oranges, peeled & sliced vertically, seeds removed
- Toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- Feta or goat cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and add a bit more of pesto or mustard to your liking. Set aside.
- Line your salad plate or bowl with greens and chopped fennel. Arrange slices of orange over top. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and crumbled cheese. Optionally: garnish with fresh organic edible flowers.
- Drizzle the dressing over and enjoy!
Notes
The fennel pesto takes minutes to prepare using a mini food processor. And it freezes beautifully! So you could make this salad in the spring/summer when fennel is ready or in the winter when citrus is in season. If making in the winter, you can substitute celery for the chopped fennel (or leave it out).
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Orange, Fennel, Salad, Pesto
