Fennel is fabulous in April! Today we’re sharing a delicious way to enjoy this in season and great for you veggie.
If you’re feeling a little sluggish after the Easter break, fennel is definitely your friend, thanks to being high in fibre plus rich in bloat-busting potassium. It’s also packed with vitamin C and other antioxidants with proven anti-inflammatory properties.
Thanks to its strong aniseed flavor, fennel is one of those vegetables that people tend to either love or hate (we’re in the love camp).
If it hasn’t taken your fancy yet, I encourage you to experiment with a few different prep methods because fennel’s health benefits are too great to miss out on. Raw and shaved is a great place to start.
Fennel adds a lovely crunch to this light Autumn salad and makes a wonderful accompaniment to the full-flavoured oily salmon.
Ingredients (to serve 2)
2 x 150g salmon fillets, with skin on
Half a lemon
1 fennel bulb or 2 baby fennel bulbs, very finely sliced with a mandolin or super sharp knife
6 brussel sprouts, very finely sliced with a mandolin or sharp knife
200g snow peas, trimmed and halved
½ cup of walnuts, roughly chopped
Handful of continental parsley leaves or dill (or whatever fresh herbs you have hanging around)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus for the dressing plus ½ tblspn for cooking the salmon
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Method
- Rub a little sea salt into the skin of the salmon fillets.
- Heat ½ a tablespoon of the olive oil in a nonstick frypan over medium high heat. Pop the salmon fillets in the frypan skin side down, and squeeze the lemon juice over the flesh of the fillets. Cook for about four minutes or until the skin is lovely and crispy, then flip the fillets over and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side to your taste.
- Meanwhile, place snow peas in a steamer basket or a colander over a pot of boiling water. Lightly steam the snow peas until they’re bright green but still crunchy.
- Prepare dressing by whisking two tablespoons olive oil with white wine vinegar and a good grind of sea salt and pepper.
- Combine fennel, brussel sprouts, snow peas and walnuts in a bowl. Pour over dressing and then toss well. Top with parsley leaves or your herb of choice. Serve your delicious crispy skinned salmon on top of the salad. Yum!
