This recipe of Fennel and Orange Salad brings beauty and elegance to your table. Sweet from the oranges, salty from the olives, fresh and crunchy from the fennel, this salad is the perfect side dish for any occasion.
What is this orange and fennel salad?
This recipe of Orange and Fennel Salad is truly an authentic Mediterranean recipe. I had this salad for the first time in Spain, but I also saw it made by Italians.
It is an unusual recipe because we are so used to eating oranges in desserts or fruit salads, not in savory recipes.
However, in my humble opinion, if there’s one thing that goes perfectly with a beautifully pan-fried fish fillet, it’s fennel and orange salad.
Salad makes a lighter accompaniment to fish than potatoes, especially when it is warm outside.
The combination of fennel with orange and mild red onions is something I have never imagined would work so well together, but boy, let me tell you, you have to try it before you form an opinion!
I am sure there are many versions out there, and everyone thinks their recipe is the best. However, the core ingredients for this salad are oranges and fennel. The rest are options that only complement the flavors.
Refreshing, a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, this salad has great crunchiness from the fennel. You can use any kind of olives you like, black as an accent color to the salad or Spanish green olives for authenticity.
The olives are a great addition to the salad if you ask me. Make sure you also use good quality olive oil. This recipe has a variety of textures that are combining really well together.
This salad might be a little bit unusual compared with other salads you had in the past, but it deserves some attention. It is a delicious recipe for entertaining, served next to grilled meats and a glass of your favorite wine.
The salad also has beautiful colors, it is elegant and very appetizing as well! It is also an excellent way to enjoy some vitamin C in the winter when flu and colds hunt us down. Our immune system can benefit from it!
Finally, while I sit here trying to tell you more about this recipe, I am thinking. How many times shall I say that I love fennel and orange together? Or how good is the recipe? Or how much I love salads all year round?
I could go on and on with stories that you are probably not interested in reading, or I can just tell you: Make this salad. It’s incredibly delicious.
It is also vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy free.
It’s sweet and salty and fresh. And you’ll love it. I could also let the pictures speak for themselves.
Last word of advice: Make sure you make the salad before you serve it. It takes a very short amount of time to put it together, so you can make it while you cook the meat.
Suggestions for what to serve the salad with:
- Chicken
- Grilled shrimp
- Grilled or roasted pork
- Pan-seared tuna
- Grilled or poached salmon
Other Spanish Recipes:
Spanish Migas con chorizo-garlic pan-fried bread&chorizo sausage
Chickpeas green beans with pork and Spanish chorizo
Spanish orange-almond flan recipe- a magic gluten-free dessert
Spanish Potato Salad (Ensaladilla Rusa)- a Spanish favorite
Carne con tomate(meat in tomato sauce)
Orange fennel and arugula salad
Enjoy it!
Fennel and Orange Salad
Ingredients
- 4 large juicy oranges
- 1 large fennel bulb very thinly sliced
- 1 mild red onion finely sliced
- 7-8 plump Spanish Olives or Black olives pitted and thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Grate the rind from the oranges into a bowl and set it aside.
- Using a small serrated knife, remove all the white pith from the oranges, working over a bowl to catch the juices.
- Cut the oranges horizontally into thin slices.
- Toss the orange slices with the fennel and onion slices.
- Whisk the olive oil with salt, pepper, and reserved orange juice.
- Pour it over the salad.
- Sprinkle the olive slices and orange rind over the salad.
- Decorate with parsley and serve on French bread.
Cristina
Friday 27th of November 2020
This in my opinion is a very savory, sofisticated salad, however easy to make and sure to impress. Love the sweetness given by the oranges, will definitely make it again