I had the idea for a great, crisp salad, loaded with fresh fennel and crisp apples. I had celery on hand, so I threw some in. The tops of the fennel were chopped up at the last minute and sprinkled about, and the result was nothing short of phenomenal. With a super light dressing of just lemon juice and olive oil, followed by a handful of raw pepitas, the salad came to life, earning a spot on my list of top five most favorite salads. Super crisp, wonderfully flavorful, and a reminder of warm days to come, it’s definitely going to make a few repeat appearances around here.
Last Year: Quinoa, Arugula, and Roasted Beet Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing and Beet Greens and Chèvre Quiche–look at me, using every part of the beet.
Super Crunchy Fennel, Apple, and Celery Salad
One of the great things about this salad is the fact that the vegetables and fruit are sliced incredibly thin—we’re talking whip-out-the-mandoline-slicer thin—allowing each bite to cram in as much of each salad element as possible. As mentioned, I used a mandolin to slice everything as thin as possible, but you could also just use a super sharp knife and slice away.
2 cups fresh fennel, sliced super thin (about 1 large bulb), core removed, leaves set aside
2 cups super thin apple slices (about 2 small apples)
1 cup super thin celery slices (sliced across, not lengthwise, obviously)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil (using extra virgin olive oil will result in a much more punchy dressing, and using a lighter olive oil will give you a milder background of dressing)
big pinch of sea salt
big pinch of freshly ground black pepper
handful of fresh fennel leaves, roughly chopped
¼ cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
In a large bowl, combine fennel, apple, and celery.
In a smaller bowl, add lemon juice, then slowly whisk in olive oil until the mixture is thick and emulsified (this shouldn’t take more than about 30 seconds). Whisk in salt and pepper, taste for more seasoning, and adjust as you see fit.
Pour dressing over fennel, apple, and celery. Toss to combine. Add chopped fennel leaves and pepitas, toss just a couple of times, then serve.
Serves 4 as a side salad, 2 as a main dish salad.
Savory Salty Sweet 
Very, very nice!
This is my kind of salad, different from always doing greens, such a nice change of pace. I like the addition of pepitas, at first I thought they were almonds, but pleasantly surprised to see seeds. 🙂
This is one of my favorite flavor combinations. I usually top it with some pecorino. Adding the extra crunch and richness of pepitas sounds delicious.