This week’s recipe is one for a simple, yet nourishing and healthy Italian fennel salad. It is not an official salad of Italy, obviously. This fennel salad is my creation and is merely inspired by Italy and its glorious produce. I love this salad and make it often, especially in winter months.

This past week the British shores saw a freakishly warm (20º C / 68º F) day in the middle of a long string of cold ones and everyone went crazy, me including. I mean I took a day off work and sat in the sun, knitting – that’s my crazy these days, hahaha. This warm weather spell made me think of starting to publish lighter and fresher recipes and so this Italian fennel salad that I have at last once a week was an obvious contender.

This Italian fennel salad is really simple and comes together in about 20 minutes or so. It is centered around a trio of crunchy veggies – celery, fennel and red pepper – which accidently resemble the colours of an Italian flag! Not intentionally, I only noticed it when I was taking photos.

It is bulked up by a selection of assorted salad leaves featuring, in my case, red leaf lettuce, mizuna, spinach and rocket. The crunch of raw veggies is punctuated by pops of flavour coming from two chopped antipasti – I like to use both olives and charred artichokes, but either of them works fine. The whole thing is then brought together by the simplest balsamic dressing and adorned with generous amount of toasted walnuts for crunch. This salad is greater than a sum of its parts, I promise.

The key to making this (or any) salad sing is making sure the veggies are cut just right. No one wants a giant piece of bell pepper or an entire salad leaf sticking out of their mouth while they try to eat a salad. This is an exact ‘argument’ I have been having with my husband for years and I am happy to say that he can now make a mean salad. I taught him salad making, he taught me how to drive, bless him… In the past I would dread him offering to make a salad as our understanding of what a salad is was essentially at odds. Where is the love? Where is the care? I would moan. I no longer do and I can safely delegate salad making duties to him now.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

FENNEL: I love fennel, its mild hint if licorice and its crispness and I often use it in salads. My fennel rules are pick the freshest fennel you can find – you are looking for white plump and smooth looking skin, without pronounced ridges or dryness – slice it thinly and serve immediately as it tends to discolour and lose its freshness quickly.

SALAD LEAVES: I used an assortment if salad leaves here. I picked a bag that contains a few different salad varieties including red leaf lettuce, mizuna, spinach and my beloved rocket. Any salad type will do, although I would personally steer clear off iceberg lettuce.

RED PEPPER: I like to combine red pepper with fennel, they both add heaps of flavour and delicious crunch to this simple Italian fennel salad and look pretty together too.

CELERY: Celery is another fresh and crunchy element that makes this salad sing, plus I like how the colours of all three main vegetables resemble an Italian flag ;).

OLIVES and ARTICHOKES: Aside from raw veggies, I like to add a pickled element to my salads for different texture and interesting pop of flavour. In this fennel salad, I favour black Kalamata olives and charred artichokes, but you could also go for capers and sundried tomatoes, for example. I like to cut them both small so that their flavour is dispersed evenly throughout this Italian fennel salad.

WALNUTS: Walnuts are an essential ingredient here. They deliver bags of flavour and crunch. I recommend toasting them to get even more flavour out of them. I tend to do a big batch at once and then keep toasted walnuts in a jar ready for when a desire for a delicious salad strikes me. To toast a big batch, use an oven at 160º C / 320º F and toast until golden (about 10-12 minutes). To do a small batch, use a small dry pan (skillet) on a low-medium heat – toss frequently.

BALSAMIC VINEGAR: Balsamic vinegar is a key component of the simple dressing for this salad. It provides much needed acidity and depth of flavour too. If you can, splash out for the good stuff. It is a bit pricier although it doesn’t necessarily have to cost the earth – the brand I buy costs £7 ($9) and it’s absolutely gorgeous, thick and syrupy yet not a glaze.

GARLIC: The addition of garlic is optional, add it if you like. I sometimes add literally half a clove for added depth of flavour, but sometimes not. A tiny dash of garlic powder would work well as a substitute.

OLIVE OIL: Extra virgin olive oil forms the backbone of this Italian inspired salad dressing. No further explanation needed, I am sure.

HOW TO MAKE IT?

1) TOAST THE WALNUTS

This is an optional step, but I wholeheartedly recommend that you toast your walnuts for this (and other) salad. If you are only making a batch for this salad, use a dry frying pan (skillet) and low-medium heat, tossing frequently. If you are toasting a big batch of walnuts, use an oven.

2) CUT THE VEGGIES

The key to a good salad is how you treat its ingredients. Be sure to keep all the pieces small enough so that they fit comfortably in a person’s mouth – you don’t want people forcing large lettuce leaves in awkwardly. I like to slice all of the veggies thinly for this salad using a mandoline or a very sharp knife and I chop my olives and artichokes small too so that they are evenly dispersed across the salad.

3) MAKE THE DRESSING

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until emulsified. You can skip the garlic if you aren’t a fan, or replace it with a dash of garlic power. Sugar may not be needed too, it really depends on how acidic your balsamic vinegar is. Taste and only add if needed.

3) COMBINE