The combination of sweet licorice flavored fennel combined with juicy grapefruit and creamy avocado makes this salad a delicious side dish next to any meal.
This salad is everything except boring. It’s full of texture, interesting flavors, and has a crispy bite. Fennel is a vegetable that when eaten raw it has a licorice taste, which makes every bite interesting. It has a crunchy texture and sweet taste. If you prefer the salad more sweet you could also add orange to the salad but those pink pieces of grapefruit make this salad even prettier. Besides that this salad is extremely healthy and can really boost your energy thanks to the magical powers of grapefruit and the health benefits of fennel.
Health benefits fennel
Fennel can be eaten as a vegetable and a herb and it’s also a medicinal plant. Both the bulb and the seeds have a licorice-flavor. The seeds contain powerful essential oils but the whole plant offers many health benefits. The bulb offers lots of vitamin C. Both the bulb and the seeds contain manganese which benefits metabolism, cellular protection, blood sugar regulation. Fennel also contains calcium, potassium and magnesium. The most health benefits come from the amount of antioxidants fennel offers the body. Many studies have shown that people who follow an antioxidant rich diet suffer less from chronic diseases.
How to segment grapefruit
To get those beautiful grapefruit parts there’s a technique called segmenting. Using this technique will help you remove the membrane and pith. Follow the next steps to use the segments individually as whole pieces for the salad.
- Slice a bit from the top and the bottom of the grapefruit so you’ll have two flat edges that give you the opportunity to make the right cuts.
- Use the front of your knife and start slicing downwards from the top, following the curve of the fruit.
- Cut away all the skin and pith without removing any flesh.
- Gently slice between one of the segments and the connective membrane.
The dressing brings the salad together
The essence of a great salad is simplicity. This salad is light, clean, fresh, made with only 4 ingredients that bring out the best in one another. The dressing for example brings this whole salad together in its best way. It’s made of fresh grapefruit juice, olive oil, white vinegar, shallot, grainy brown mustard, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. If you make a bit more you can keep this dressing in a jar for a few weeks in the fridge.
Grapefruit Avocado & Fennel Salad
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 avocado
- 2 pink grapefruits segmented pieces
- 100 grams light greens like baby spinach or corn salad
For the dressing
- ⅓ cup fresh grapefruit juice
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- ½ chopped shallot
- 1 tsp brown grainy mustard
- sea salt an fresh ground black pepper to your liking
Instructions
- Segment the grapefruits as described above and cut the avocado in chunks. Cut thinly slices from the fennel bulb.
- Mix the grapefruits, avocado, fennel slices and salad all together. Drizzle the dressing on top and mix it all up.
To make the dressing
- Mix all the ingredients together. We like to add it all to a jar, close it and shake it a few times until well combined. Taste it and see if you prefer to add anything like more salt, pepper or mustard.
Sources: Healthline
