This Apple Fennel Salad with walnuts and orange dressing is SOMETHING ELSE. It has everything you need. Fragrant fennel, sweet apple, crunchy walnuts… Oh and the dressing is just fantastic! This salad is perfect for any time of the year.
I am stuffing myself with all kinds of fresh summer salads for about a month right now. It’s been lovely, because I am a huge fan of fresh produce, but all things, even the most exciting ones, sometimes tend to get a little bit boring (I am also a fan of variety in food). Few days later I will be craving all those summer herbs, veggies and berries again but today I wanted a little change.
Apples. That’s right. That’s exactly what I craved today in the morning. Obviously, there are no fresh apples right now, but what could I do? I wanted them so bad. I rushed to the shop, threw few pounds of apples to my grocery cart and started looking for something else I could add to my salad together with apples. Fennel! Sounds good. Spinach? Sure thing. What else… Here we go, walnuts! Few oranges for the dressing and we are all set!
That’s how this amazing Apple Fennel Salad with Walnuts and Orange Dressing was born. Simple as that. The very first bite told me that all the ingredients are perfect together. The fennel is fantastic. I immediately regretted that I am using it too rarely in my salads. I don’t know why! It’s just not so popular in my country and not every shop has it. From now on, I promise to myself to think of it as a great salad ingredient more often. I am not even talking about all the health benefits fennel provides. The addition of walnuts is so on point! Love that additional crunch in my salads. You can also use pecans or any other nuts you like.
The orange dressing, with a little bit of Dijon mustard and olive oil does an amazing job. It feels like it was created specially for the apple fennel salad! What else can I say? This salad is perfect for any time of the year. Of course, with all the ingredients fresh, ripe apples right from the trees, fennel right from the garden, it will be even tastier. TRY IT!
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 small fennel bulb halved, and thinly sliced
- 1 medium apple thinly sliced
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
For the dressing:
- 1/2 orange juice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the fennel, apple, spinach, and walnuts.
- Combine the orange juice, olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper in a small jar with a lid. Shake well. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Pour the dressing on top and toss lightly. Enjoy!
6 Comments
Amanda
June 26, 2017 at 3:22 pmIs that 1/2 cup of orange juice? Or 1/2 tablespoon?? Can’t wait to try this!
Jovita
July 1, 2017 at 7:13 pmSorry for the confusion, I meant orange juice from a half an orange 🙂
Judy
January 12, 2018 at 8:08 pmCame looking for a salad idea. I have everything on hand! Need to use that orange. Going to try this for tonight.
Jovita
January 14, 2018 at 12:06 pmI hope you loved it, Judy!
Jenn
June 30, 2018 at 11:59 pmMaking this tonight with a few alternate ingredients…. Using toasted pine nuts instead of walnuts because that what I have and they go great with the seared tuna steaks I’m making ? and instead of spinach, I’m using the peppery arugula I have! So excited to come across this ? and hope you don’t mind me making a switch-er-ooo
Jovita
February 23, 2021 at 9:43 pmI totally don’t mind and I like your modifications 🙂 You always have to experiment with recipes 😉