Citrus Salad with Fennel and Avocado

Any winter day will be brightened by this Citrus Salad with Fennel and Avocado! It’s light, crisp, and bursting with flavour from avocado, fresh mint, fennel, and more. You can probably expect to see fennel, avocado, and mint soon after I add citrus to a salad. These components all bring out different aspects of the luscious, sweet fruit.

We really love this citrus salad as a side dish! Slice and roast the fennel, segment the citrus, and whisk together the dressing up to one day ahead of time. When you’re ready to eat, assemble it!

Set Up Time: thirty minutes
Serves four to six.

Ingredients For Citrus Salad with Fennel and Avocado:

• 1 roasted, sliced, and wedged fennel bulb
• One bulb of fennel, finely sliced
• Five ripped radicchio leaves
• One tiny orange or two segmented satsumas
• 1 little pink grapefruit, cut into segments
• One sliced avocado and two tablespoons of pine nuts
• ½ cup of pecorino shavings
• Half a cup of new mint leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Lemon Dressing for Recipe:

• ¼ a cup of extra virgin olive oil.
• Two tsp lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, one shredded garlic clove
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Instructions For Citrus Salad with Fennel and Avocado:

Follow these instructions to roast the fennel.

• 1 bulb of fennel, sliced into wedges after the fronds are removed
• Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt

Guidelines for roast fennel

• Set a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Spread the fennel wedges evenly onto the baking sheet after tossing them with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Fennel wedges should be roasted for 25 to 35 minutes, or until they are browned on the outside and soft on the inside.

Prepare the dressing:

• Mix the olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl.
• Toss the sliced fennel with a couple of drizzles of the dressing in a medium-sized bowl. To allow the fennel to soften slightly, set aside for 15 minutes.
• Arrange half of the sliced fennel, all of the roasted fennel, radicchio, and half of the citrus segments on a dish. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with a couple spoonfuls of the dressing. Arrange the leftover citrus and fennel in layers on top of the salad. Add the avocado, mint, pecorino, and pine nuts on top. Once extra dressing has been drizzled on, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Tips for Citrus Salads

• Take out the pith. It’s the citrus fruit, not the pith, that should shine in this salad. It’s important to remove the peel and white pith from each citrus wedge in order to highlight the fruit’s luscious texture and sweet flavour. I also like to scrape off any exposed segments of the thin membrane that divides the segments of citrus.
• Move forward. This salad is so pretty that it would be great for hosting guests! Shave and roast the fennel, slice the citrus, and mix together the dressing up to one day ahead of time. Just before you’re ready to eat, put the salad together.
• Turn it vegetarian. Instead of cheese, replace it with a tablespoon of chopped Kalamata olives or capers.

To create the salad, place half of the raw fennel and citrus segments on a dish along with the roasted fennel and radicchio. Season everything with salt and pepper and drizzle with the dressing. Arrange the remaining fennel and citrus in layers, then garnish with the avocado, cheese, pine nuts, and mint. Serve after adding additional dressing, salt, and pepper.

Further Salad Recipes:

DEVILED EGG MACARONI SALAD

Lemon Couscous with Roasted Broccoli and Chickpeas

Delicious and Healthy Apple Walnut Salad 

Creamy Cauliflower Cashew Salad