Grapefruit and Shaved Fennel Salad
Light, cool and crunchy, fennel is a perfect complement to rich autumn dishes. In this salad, grapefruit and mustard add piquancy to the mellow, mildly licorice flavor of the fennel — perfect to pair with a hearty stew or rich bisque. The salad will be different if prepared with a mandoline vs hand-slicing the fennel: shaved, the fennel becomes thin enough to drape in succulent ribbons over the citrus and greens; sliced, it makes a crisp counterpoint to the buttery lettuce and juicy grapefruit. Try it both ways!
To make the salad into a light entree, double the portion sizes and top each with 2 oz crumbled goat cheese — creamy, lightly lemony Valençay would be perfect.
— Serves 4
*Items marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.
Ingredients
1 head butter lettuce (~1 pound), washed, patted dry, and torn into bite-size pieces
Optional special equipment: mandoline or other adjustable-blade slicer
Preparation
Whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add oil and shallot and whisk again.
Trim peel, including all white pith from grapefruit with a paring knife. First cut a slice from the top and bottom of the fruit, then stand it on the cut end and use a gentle sawing motion to trim slices of peel off of it, following the contour of the fruit as much as possible. Working over a bowl, cut grapefruit segments free from membranes. After all the segments have been removed, squeeze juice from membranes into a small bowl, then whisk 3 tablespoons of the juice into the vinaigrette.
Quarter fennel lengthwise, then cut lengthwise into paper-thin slices (about 1/16 inch thick) with slicer, or as finely as you can with a large knife.
Gently toss the fennel and grapefruit together, drizzle with about half the vinaigrette and toss again to mix.
On each of 4 salad plates, place a handful or two of the lettuce. Top with the fennel-grapefruit mixture, then drizzle remaining vinaigrette over salads. Serve immediately.
Tags: fennel, grapefruit, vinaigrette