Provence: French Style Fennel and Pear Salad
Fennel is regarded as one of the world’s healthiest foods. France is among the leading cultivators of fennel. It is also a very good source of potassium, a mineral which helps lower high blood pressure.
As well as being an excellent source of vitamin C, it is also a very good source of dietary fibre.
Here we have a crisp, tasty and light salad to compliment any meat or pasta.
Ingredients
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 1 orange
- 2 firm green pears
- 1/2 of a red onion
- 3 tblsp toasted walnuts
- 80 gr Parmesan cheese (shaved)
- 2 tblsp lemon juice
- 1 tblsp white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper, a flaky sea salt is perfect
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dill
Method
- Cut off the top and base of the fennel. Wash them and slice very thinly across the bulb. Slice down each side of the pear so that you have thin slabs of pear. Then slice the orange and red onion thinly as well.
- Prepare the vinaigrette with lemon juice, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- Place the fennel, pear, orange and onion in a bowl and pour over the vinaigrette. Sprinkle the dill and toasted walnuts over the top and then add the shaved Parmesan cheese.
- The fennel bulb is used as a vegetable to add delicate flavours to various dishes, particularly in salads, stews, and soups, so when you are buying fennel, look for the pearly white bulb which isn’t too large or discoloured. If they are too big they can be stringy and a bit chewy.
