Cucumber-Fennel Salad with Charred Spring Onions

July 12, 2019

Recipe by Maddie Rhodes, @dont_stop_beleafing.

I could write an Ode-To-Fennel essay here, but I will spare you. Fennel is my second favorite vegetable, a close second to okra. It's flavor is slightly sweet and the crunch is addictive. It works beautifully in Italian inspired dishes, but I throw it in with just about anything.

Do not throw out the fronds, either! They can easily be whipped up into a pesto or used as a garnish on literally anything.

So here's a salad recipe, pretty much as simple as it gets because when you attain produce as local, fresh, and respected as Local Roots, you want to taste every atom of flavor that developed under the loving, watchful eye of your farmer. And boy oh boy is this stuff packed with flavor! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 Fennel bulb, sliced thinly 
• 1 Cucumber, sliced thinly
• 5 Spring onions
• 1/4 cup Almonds, toasted
• Good quality olive oil
• Sherry vinegar
• Fresh black pepper
• Fennel fronds, for garnish

Method:

1. First, slice your fennel and cucumber as thinly as you can while maintaining some of the crunch. I like a 1/4 inch, or just under. 
2. Preheat your oven's broiler. Toss your spring onions in a tiny bit of oil, and broil until partially charred. Watch these very closely as broilers cook extremely fast. Mine only took about 3-4 minutes. 
3. Preheat your oven to 350, and toast the almonds for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool before chopping roughly.
4. Once your onions are cooked and vegetables chopped, assemble everything on a platter. Top with a few cracks of fresh black pepper, toasted almonds, a drizzle of great olive oil, splash of sherry vinegar, and fennel fronds. 

 

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