Our first fennel bulb of the year finally came made its way to the kitchen. Looking at it, I realized how much my body missed eating fresh salads. The winter weather is quickly turning into Spring. The appearance of bulbs and fresh wild greens unfurling from the forest floor is letting my body know it’s time to wake up! Put the stews and soups on rest and eat something fresh… I hope you enjoy this transitional time salad.
Fennel Kale Combo Salad
Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
1 small bulb fennel
2 stalks celery, diced
1 apple, diced or cut to liking
½ cup sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely diced
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup
½ cup olive oil
½ cup dried cranberries
crumbled goat cheese
Dash of salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Take midribs out of kale and chop leaves, put into bowl.
2. Massage kale with half of lemon juice and ¼ cup of olive oil.
3. Thinly chop fennel bulb until you reach the leaves. Discard the leaves (feed to rabbits, they can eat fennel too!) and put chopped material into bowl with kale.
4. Dice celery and add to kale, fennel mixture.
5. Mix thyme with the rest of the lemon juice, maple syrup, olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Pour dressing over salad and top with cranberries, goat cheese and sunflower seeds.
7. Toss and enjoy!