Fennel-Orange Salad with Walnuts

This winter has been the best in memory.  Ever, really.  It marked Elinor’s birth and those precious months during which I have been fortunate enough to spend every moment—except for a few date nights and runs—with her.  We have cuddled and giggled and locked eyes for innumerable hours.  We have learned about a unique take on breakfast: green eggs and ham.  We have watched the cherry trees turn from lonely brown branches into clouds of dainty pink.  And we have eaten well.

This salad reminds me of the luminousness I now know winter can hold.  Creamy walnuts temper piquant arugula and olive oil.  Crisp fennel slivers provide welcome reprieve from the season’s reliance on slow cooking and its resulting soft food.  All of this comes together on a fork topped with a bit of gray sea salt, which dissolves ever so efficiently onto the juicy orange.  One bite makes clear that winter is not merely to be endured; rather, it is a source of radiance all its own.

Fennel-Orange Salad with Walnuts
Inspired by an early dinner on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Pizzeria Delfina

2 handfuls walnuts
2 medium or large oranges (I had Cara Cara and traditional navel oranges on hand; tart blood oranges would also be great)
1 large fennel bulb with fronds intact *
4 ounces wild arugula*
Chunky sea salt

For the dressing:
3 tablespoons piquant cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil*
1 tablespoon champagne (or good quality white-wine) vinegar
Unrefined sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Serves 4 starter portions or 2 plentiful dinner portions

Note: European cooks traditionally make salad dressing at a four- or five-to-one ratio of oil to acid (here, vinegar).  I tend to like more acidic dressings in general, but, here, I think the acid adds an essential bright note to offset the sweetness of the Cara Cara and traditional navel oranges; more tart blood oranges might pair better with higher ratio of oil to acid.

To make the nuts more digestible, soak them in water with a pinch of unrefined sea salt for 24 hours, rinse and drain, and bake at 150 F or lower overnight.  The result is a crunchy, toasted nut that you can use for this salad and for later snacking.

* Signifies a lactogenic (breastmilk-supply enhancing) food

P R E P .

Arugula. Clean and thoroughly dry the arugula.  Very dry lettuce is key to a perfectly dressed salad.  For a more elaborate take on this principle, see Alice Waters’ approach in The Green Kitchen: Episode 1 at 4:00.

Walnuts. Toast the nuts over medium heat, shaking occasionally, until fragrant.  Watch the nuts carefully, as they can go from toasted to burned rather quickly.

Oranges. Slice the orange in cross-sections by cutting off a ¼” from both ends.  Then cut curving strips from top to bottom to remove all skin.  Remove any remaining pith.  Slice the oranges into 1/8” cross-sections.

Fennel. Gather a heaping handful of fronds (reserve the stems for another use); rinse and dry.  Delicately tear the fronds into thumbnail-size pieces and set aside.  Remove any rough outer layers of the bulb and slice the bulb in cross-sections 1/16” thick (a Benriner works great here if you have one).  Separate the rings into individual pieces.

Dressing. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to emulsify.  You may have to reemulsify just before dressing the arugula.

A S S E M B L E .

Dress the greens and fennel. Using your hands, add some of the dressing to the arugula and fennel and gently massage until the dressing is evenly distributed.  If the leaves are not yet glistening with dressing, add more and massage again.  Dress until the arugula is glistening but is not heavy with dressing.  (You cannot undo too much dressing, so exercise restraint with the first amount you use, and take your time massing!)  Arrange the arugula and fennel on a serving plate.

Finish.  Sprinkle the walnuts over the arugula and fennel.  Arrange the oranges and sprinkle each orange with a grain or two of chunky sea salt.  Feather the frond pieces over the salad.  Serve.

E A T  A N D  D R I N K . We’ve been having this salad all the time to take advantage of the fantastic citrus while it’s still here.  Other than navel oranges, we’ve used tangerines (seedless varieties are much easier), blood oranges and ruby grapefruit.  As for wine, try a light, sharply acidity white with herbaceous qualities (think: green, grassy, hay-like).  I had declared that I would rather avoid white wine until Nikki and Justy started bringing over some delicious European whites (many biodynamic) that revived my interest.  The first of these vegetal whites was the delicious Grüner Veltliner we had with this salad.

R E F I G U R E . Once dressed, salad is a now-food, so it’s hard to refigure.  Consider the following in thinking about this salad:

• You can easily quadruple the dressing and have it ready for a couple of weeks to come.  If you do so, I recommend mincing a medium shallot to a pulp and adding it to the dressing.  The shallot adds more depth of flavor the longer it is combined with the other ingredients.
• Add grilled calamari.

L I T T L E  E A T S . Finely chop it all, excluding whatever you feel uncomfortable with—nuts or citrus, for example—and top with a tiny bit of dressing.

Text and photo © Blue Egg Kitchen 2010