I usually don’t like fennel, but I’ve grown to like it in salads, even raw. This salad has roasted fennel in it, which I never had before, and it really tames the flavor, almost to the point that you can’t taste it. And I never knew you could eat the fennel fronds.
A trick we used to coarsely chop the hazelnuts was to add them in a tightly sealed plastic bag and then roll them over with a rolling pin.
Adapted from Veganomicon.
Ingredients
makes 4 servings
Roasted vegetables:
- Bulbs from 2 heads fennel, diced
- 3 large shallots, peeled and sliced in half
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
Salad:
- Fronds from 2 heads fennel, chopped
- 1 ½ heads red leaf lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
- about 2 cups roasted hazelnuts, broken into pieces with rolling pin
- about 1 cup dried cranberries
Dressing:
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Toss the shallots and diced fennel bulbs with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some ground black pepper. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges of the fennel are browned and the shallot is starting to carmelize. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
To make the dressing: in a food processor or blender, combine the roasted shallots, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, tarragon, thyme, nutmeg, and salt. Blend until creamy, pour into a container, cover, and chill until ready to use.
Assemble the salad by placing the lettuce, chopped fennel fronds, roasted fennel, hazelnuts, and cranberries in a large bowl. Pour in the dressing and toss until combined. Serve immediately.
