The first Fennel Salad we made was a bit involved – it had a base of lemon whipped ricotta and grapefruit supremes. While delicious, those extraneous elements take TIME and sometimes you just want to whip up a quick and simple salad on the fly. This is that fennel salad.
SHOPPING LIST: 2 fennel bulbs, 1 jalapeño, shredded parmesan, lemon, olive oil, salt
Remove the stems, fronds and core of your fennel bulbs so you’re left with something looking similar to the size of an onion, making sure to KEEP some of your fronds to finish your salad. Slice each fennel bulb in half, and then very carefully THINLY slice your fennel — if you keep a mandolin on hand, this would be a GREAT opportunity to use it, the thinner the better!!!
Add your sliced fennel to your serving bowl. Next, thinly slice your entire jalapeno (or less if you don’t want it SO spicy) and add that to you fennel. Top with 1 cup of SHREDDED parmesan, making sure you get lots of those larger pieces in the mix. Use a microplane to remove the zest of the entire lemon directly on top of your parmesan, and then squeeze the juice of the entire lemon over your salad.
Grab a handful of the fennel fronds you kept and give them a rough chop and add them to your salad .Finish with 2 tB. of HIGH QUALITY olive oil and 1 tsp. of salt. Give your salad a quick toss and that’s it. Easy, fresh, spicy, and bright with a hint of the salty, nutty parmesan, this salad is truly one of life’s simple pleasure.
The Kitchen Koach 