Here’s a sparkling salad that makes superb use of that one-third or so of a plump fennel bulb that you couldn’t consume in one sitting.
Ingredients
Fennel, about 1/3 medium bulb or 1/2 small one
1/2 tart apple
About 6 walnuts
Dressing
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil, or more to taste
Preparation
Remove the course outside rib of the fennel bulb, and trim off the stalk, saving the leaves. Trim the root end so the bulb stands firmly, and with a sharp knife cut very thin slices. If you have a mandoline, by all means use it. Core the apple, and cut it into thin slices, leaving the peel on. Mix together the dressing ingredients, taste, and adjust as you see fit. Pour the dressing over the fennel and apple slices with the walnuts, broken in half, and some of the fennel leaves chopped, and toss everything together. Pile onto a salad plate, and top with a few more fennel leaves.
The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved.
Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.
