Artificial Flavors Free Fennel-Orange Salad
Bright, refreshing, and built entirely from whole, recognizable ingredients, this salad is a showstopper that earns its place on any table. Shaving the fennel thin and soaking it in ice water is the kind of small step that makes a big difference — you get delicate, curled slices with a satisfying crunch rather than anything sharp or overwhelming. The orange segments bring natural sweetness, the Castelvetrano olives add a buttery, briny depth, and the dressing comes together with fresh-squeezed juice, good olive oil, and a touch of honey — nothing synthetic, nothing from a bottle with a suspicious ingredient list. Every element is exactly what it says it is, which is genuinely hard to find in store-bought dressings and prepared salads that often sneak in artificial flavor enhancers. A pinch of red pepper flakes and a finish of shaved Parmesan and torn fennel fronds round out the flavors in a way that feels layered and intentional. This is the kind of salad that converts skeptics — the sort of dish people ask about at the table because it tastes more complex than its clean, simple ingredient list would suggest.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salad
- 2 medium fennel bulbs, fronds reserved
- 3 medium navel oranges
- ¼ small red onion, very thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup castelvetrano olives, pitted and roughly torn
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice (from one of the segmented oranges)
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp honey
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp fennel fronds, roughly torn (optional)
- 1 oz shaved parmesan (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Trim the fennel bulbs: cut off the stalks and any tough outer layers, then halve each bulb through the root. Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, shave the fennel crosswise into very thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a large bowl of ice water and let stand for 10 minutes, until the slices curl slightly and crisp up. Drain well and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
- 2
Working over a bowl to catch the juice, cut the top and bottom off each orange, then stand each orange upright and slice away the peel and white pith from top to bottom, following the curve of the fruit. Hold the peeled orange over the bowl and cut between the membranes to release the segments, letting them fall into the bowl. Squeeze the spent membranes over the bowl to extract the juice, then measure out 2 tbsp of the juice for the dressing.
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