Beef Free Fennel-Orange Salad
This bright, refreshing salad is built entirely on produce, pantry staples, and a handful of bold Mediterranean ingredients — no meat required, and honestly, none missed. Shaving the fennel thin and soaking it in ice water is the kind of small step that makes a big difference, giving you delicate, curled slices with a satisfying crunch rather than anything sharp or overpowering. The orange segments bring juicy sweetness, the Castelvetrano olives add a buttery, briny punch, and the honey-citrus dressing ties everything together with just enough heat from the red pepper flakes. It's the sort of salad that looks like it came from a restaurant but comes together with a mandoline and about twenty minutes of relaxed prep. The optional shaved Parmesan and torn fennel fronds on top push it from simple to genuinely stunning on the plate. Serve it as a light lunch, a dinner party starter, or a side that completely upstages whatever else is on the table.
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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)
Can be omittedshaved parmesan
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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