Fennel and Orange Salad

Name: Fennel and Orange Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 2 fennel bulbs, about 500 g, fronds reserved; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 3 oranges, ideally including a blood orange; ¼ small red onion, sliced paper-thin; 50 g (⅓ cup) black olives, pitted and halved; oily, wrinkled ones if possible; 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pinch chili flakes, optional; flaky or fine sea salt and black pepper, about 2 g (⅓ tsp) salt

Shaved fennel, citrus and olives — Sicily's winter salad

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 20 min
Total: 20 min
Level: Easy

When most salad ingredients are out of season, citrus is at its best. Paper-thin raw fennel, juicy orange slices, black olives and a little red onion are dressed simply with olive oil and the orange juice itself: crisp, sweet, salty and fragrant.

Ingredients

2fennel bulbsabout 500 g, fronds reserved
1 tbsplemon juice
3oranges, ideally including a blood orange
¼small red onionsliced paper-thin
50 gblack olives (⅓ cup)pitted and halved; oily, wrinkled ones if possible
3 tbspextra-virgin olive oil
1 pinchchili flakesoptional
flaky or fine sea salt and black pepperabout 2 g (⅓ tsp) salt

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Dairy-free
Allergens: None of the EU 14
Origin: Italy (Sicily)
Season: Winter, Spring

Method

Trim the fennel, halve it lengthwise, and slice it as thinly as you can across the bulb — a mandoline is ideal (use the guard). Toss with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Cut the top and bottom off each orange. Stand it on a board and slice away the peel and white pith in strips, following the curve. Slice into 5 mm rounds, catching any juice in a bowl.
Spread the fennel on a platter and arrange the orange slices on top. Scatter over the onion and olives.
Whisk the collected orange juice (about 2 tbsp) with the olive oil and drizzle over.
Finish with salt, pepper, chili if using and the chopped fennel fronds. Serve within 30 minutes.

Why it works

Shaving fennel very thin breaks it into flexible slices that taste sweet and anise-fresh rather than fibrous; lemon keeps the cut surfaces from browning. Removing all the bitter white pith lets the orange's sweetness and acidity come through cleanly. Salty olives make the sweet fruit taste sweeter by contrast.

Common mistakes

Thick fennel slices: chewy and stringy. Go thin.
Leaving the pith on the oranges: it's bitter.
Dressing too early: the fennel goes limp after about an hour.

Variations

With mint and pomegranate: Add a handful of mint leaves and pomegranate seeds.
With smoked fish: Top with flaked hot-smoked salmon or mackerel for a light lunch.