Apple, fennel and rocket salad with parmesan crisps

Fennel salad recipe

You might not believe it, but this Mediterranean delight comes from the same family as carrots. The fennel plant is actually a perennial herb and while most people focus on the fennel bulb when preparing recipes, you can also eat the fennel fronds.

What does fennel taste like? It has a subtle anise flavour that works beautifully in this recipe alongside the sweetness of apple. Best of all this, this fennel apple salad is healthy, easy to prepare, and the perfect winter salad.

How to prepare fennel

There are lots of fennel recipes out there, and how to cut fennel depends on which one you’re making. Before you start, remove any outer leaves on the bulb that may have wilted. For this recipe, you want the fennel to have an almost slaw-like quality. The easiest way to do this is to shave it on a mandoline; otherwise slice it finely using a sharp knife. When you’re done, pick out any of the tough core pieces and put them in the compost. This is also a great way to prep the bulb if you want to sauté the fennel.

If you’re roasting the fennel, simply cut the bulb in half vertically then into 1.5cm wedges before tossing into olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook them for 25–30 minutes in a 180ºC oven until the wedges are tender and caramelised around the edges.

Use the stalks for a homemade vegetable soup, and finely slice the fronds and use them like a herb on soups, salads, pasta and more.

Variations on fennel salad

Give this apple and fennel slaw the Waldorf salad treatment by adding some chopped toasted walnuts during step 3.

There’s another simple salad dressing that goes well if you want to swap out our parmesan dressing. Simply shake together wholegrain mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a little honey.

If you’ve got celery in the fridge, you can replace the fennel, although you’ll lose the beautiful anise flavour.

Now get cooking

There are lots of different fennel salad recipes you can try. Dish up maple-glazed salmon with herbed fennel salad as a midweek dinner. This BBQ haloumi and fennel panzanella salad includes grilled wedges of the bulb. Another great way to utilise fennel’s unique flavour is in soups, like this fennel, potato and celery version, sprinkled with dukkah.