a favorite this-time-of-year salad

+ a special 'No Judgement Cooking + Eating' online event :)

Not every salad has to have lettuce— a lot of my favorite salads don’t. Take this combination of thinly sliced fennel and apples dressed simply with olive oil, lemon, and a tiny bit of something sweet (honey or maple syrup). t’s great for entertaining (Thanksgiving, anyone??) since there’s no lettuce that’s prone to wilting. You can make it a few hours before you serve it. It holds up (couldn’t we all use things that hold up?). This kind-of slaw-like salad is ideal served with anything a little rich that could use some crunch and acidic brightness to balance everything out (for example, this salad first appeared in my Rosh Hashanah cooking class in September and I served it with sesame chicken cutlets).

Here’s the recipe + a list of my thoughts below that (ways to vary it, things to serve it with, etc.)

SHAVED APPLE + FENNEL SALAD 

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup

• A large pinch kosher salt

• 1 large head fennel, any browned outer layer removed

• 1 large apple (any kind, but preferably something tart), stemmed + seeded, thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup toasted nuts (whatever type you’d like! — walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds…whatever!)

Place the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and salt in a large bowl and whisk well to combine.

If your fennel has the fronds and long stems attached, remove them and roughly chop the fronds and thinly slice the stems (as if each was a celery stalk). Thinly slice the fennel bulb. Add all of your fennel and apple to the bowl with the dressing and toss well to combine. Top with the nuts. Serve!

Here’s the salad ‘in situ’ with the sesame chicken cutlets and also a delicious gingery date cake (here’s that recipe!!)

MORE THOUGHTS ON THIS SALAD:

• Use any other firm vegetable instead of/in addition to the fennel — carrots, kohlrabi, celery, peeled raw beets, etc.

• Use pears instead of/in addition to the apple.

• Use peeled + sliced citrus (orange, grapefruit, clementines!) instead of the apple. Fennel + citrus is just a great combination.

• Use vinegar instead of lemon juice — apple cider vinegar or sherry would be my top two choices.

• Add cheese! Something nice and salty like crumbled feta, pecorino, Parmesan…great.

• Add something briny— olives, fried capers, pickled peppers….

• Add a cooked + cooled grain and/or bean to make things more substantial…farro, quinoa, chickpeas, lentils, etc.

• Serve with just about anything including chicken cutlets, any grilled/roasted meat (including turkey!), grilled sausages, meatballs…whatever.

I’m very excited to share that I’ll be hosting ‘COOKING + EATING TOGETHER WITHOUT JUDGMENT,’ a special event online, on Sunday Nov. 27th, the Sunday right after Thanksgiving, at 2p EST. It’s a sliding scale (starting at $0!) and all are welcome. Can't make it live? Still please sign up so you'll get the recording! I will probably do this again sometime, too, so stay tuned…

Here's the official class description:

Join me for a special class that's all about feeling FREEDOM around food. Are you recovering from an eating disorder, or just working on having a more positive relationship with your body, or maybe you're working hard to dismantle diet culture? Do you love to cook but don't feel like that's something you get to celebrate because of the way society views your body? Are you scared to eat in front of other people? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, join us for stress-free cooking + experience the joy of cooking with others + the satisfaction of taking care of ourselves. Join us to experience permission to eat together with zero judgment. We will do a simple soup + salad + breadsticks meal (minnestrone-ish, pizzeria salad + garlic breadsticks!), each of which will have a ton of variations offered so you can make exactly what you like to eat. Then there will be plenty of time for Q&A, during which anyone who wants to eat can eat in peace + community. Sliding scale from $0 to whatever you want. All are welcome. Discussion of weight loss/dieting techniques strictly prohibited.

SIGN UP HERE!!!!!!!

Please feel free to share this with whoever you'd like.

And I’ll be teaching my usual Sunday afternoon class this weekend (11/13).

Sometimes I just want all the side dishes on a menu, hold the main course. The great thing about cooking at home is…you can make whatever you want! Join me for a meal that’s all of the best side dishes: Hasselback carrots, stuffed mushrooms, and Grace’s mashed potatoes which are NOT shy when it comes to butter or sour cream. To drink, sidecars (get it?) and for dessert, delicious lemon poppy snowball cookies. As always, tons of tips, ideas, make-ahead notes + leftover suggestions offered during class. This will be such a cozy one.

SIGN UP HERE!!!!!

Happy salad making + hope to see you in a class soon. xooxox Julia