Fennel, Celery, And Apple Salad

Prior to late last year, I had never bought fennel myself. I’ve had it in restaurants, even on purpose sometimes, but had never had to pick a bulb out for home consumption, and had certainly never made a raw salad out of fennel.

But that all changed after being invited to a friend’s house for dinner, where they served a fennel, celery and apple salad that was so delicious that my wife immediately turned to me and said that we had to get the recipe and try it out at home.

This recipe comes from the New York Times cooking section, is a Thanksgiving themed recipe and calls for roasted walnuts, but I’ve made a few changes to suit my needs, and now make it any time of year.

I’m not crazy about walnuts, so I dropped those, and I also usually have a homemade salad dressing in the fridge that is pretty similar to what is called for in the NYT’s recipe so I opt for the dressing already on hand as opposed to making a new one. But even if you start from scratch, it is very quick and easy, certainly not a reason to skip this fennel salad.

This salad has really become our go-to dish when having company over lately, it comes together quickly and can be made ahead of time, especially if you don’t dress it too heavily before you’re ready to serve it up.

Also a bit different from the original recipe, I bounce back and forth between Granny Smith apples or Honeycrisp. I find the salad pretty delightful either way, and simply turns into a game-time decision at the store to see which apples look the most appealing to me.

Also, do you want a nicely thematic green salad? Or would you like a little red in there?

Another big plus for this salad is that you can simply use one large bowl to pile everything into as you chop it up. A knife, a cutting board, mandolin if you choose and a large bowl is about all you need to to get dirty for this recipe.

As always, please please please be super careful if you decide to use a mandolin to slice everything up. But if you feel comfortable with the sharpest tool every devised it can really help with the thinness of your slicing and the consistency of each cut.

One last note, for those of you like me who were not super comfortable with fennel… the best way to prep this bulb is to cut across the top at the base of the fronds and then turn the buld up on its end and cut it in half. Lay each half down on the cutting board and carve out the fibrous heart of the bulb, you don’t want that in your salad.

Most people will tell you to cut across the bottom and remove the stem end, but I like to keep that on as it gives me a little extra protection when using the mandolin. So I slice down to the root end and then throw the root away, and keep my fingers safe at the same time.

Print Recipe

Fennel Celery Apple Salad

raw chopped salad made from fennel bulbs, celery and apple slices

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Course: dinner, Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fennel, salad

Servings: 8

Calories: 130kcal

Author: Greg Fleischaker

Equipment

• 1 mandolin (slicer) helpful, not mandatory

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 med-large fennel bulbs fronds removed, outer layer washed or removed, halved and cored
• 2 apples Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, quartered and cored
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 handful shredded kale leaves small pieces
• 1 tsp sea salt
• fennel fronds chopped

Dressing

• 100 g apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 100 g avocado oil or olive oil
• 1-2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 150ish g olive oil enough oil to get all ingredients up to 400 g in a measuring quart

Toppings

• shaved hard cheese, parmesan if desired

Instructions

For the salad…

• Slice celery into half stalks and then into thin pieces, place in large bowl
• Using mandolin or knife, very carefully thinly slice apple quarters into thin pieces and place in large bowl with celery
• Using mandolin or knife, very carefully thinly slice fennel halves into thin pieces and place in large bowl with celery and apple, discard stem end
• add shredded kale to your satisfaction in bowl
• remove the thinnest and most tender fronds from the fennel bulbs and roughly chop and toss on top of ingredients in bowl
• add salt and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dressing and toss, taste and add dressing to your satisfaction, better a little underdressed than over, will keep better.
• add cheese if desired when serving

Salad Dressing

• Use a tall quart measuring cup that will work well with an immersion blender, or a whisk
• add 100 g apple cider vinegar
• add 100 g avocado oil (or olive oil)
• add 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, or 2-4 squirts from a squeeze bottle
• add salt, garlic powder and pepper
• add enough olive oil to bring total measurement for ingredients to 400 grams in measuring cup
• using an immersion blender ON LOW SPEED blend just until smooth and emulsified
• pour into a salad dressing container, use some for fennel celery apple salad and keep remainder for other uses

Nutrition

Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 5.4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Fiber: 5.7g | Sugar: 10.3g | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 1mg