You don’t need a recipe to put together a good seasonal salad, but sometimes you might need inspiration for a dressing that’s a little different. Ginger-carrot dressing is particularly good for winter leaves. Get creative with a wide variety of seasonal salads: mâche (lamb’s lettuce), winter purslane, spicy mustards, mizuna, arugula (rocket), chicories (radicchio, Belgium endive or escarole), and rocket. Then add finely sliced spring onions, apples, avocado, fennel, and oranges. Finish with a sprinkle of fennel seeds and walnuts. Hey presto, a gorgeous Fennel salad with Ginger Carrot Dressing
Ginger Carrot Dressing with Fresh Turmeric
The dressing is a blend of fresh turmeric, ginger, and orange, and you will find yourself drinking it straight from the jar. Refreshing, spicy, smooth and full of goodness. It’s a must-have in the fridge at all times. Juice all the fresh ingredients, then add a hint of sesame oil and mirin. I would make a large batch and keep it in the fridge for up to a week. You need to juice the turmeric, ginger, orange, and carrot, which can feel like a bit of a faff. However, I promise it is well worth it. Make sure you juice the turmeric first. It’s trickier to juice, but as you push the other ingredients through, you extract the most turmeric.
Ideally, whizz all the ingredients in a mini blender, but a good shake in a sealed jar will also do the trick. The mirin adds the magical umami to the sauce. But a good swap is a little rice vinegar and a drop of honey. Pair it with rice or freekeh; both are equally delicious with the ginger dressing. You could also crumble a little feta over it or add a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese.
If you are short on time and need a quick, more straightforward sauce, a shortcut version in the notes below still pulls a gingery citrus punch. Fennel & orange salad is a great lunchbox salad because its ingredients are robust and can withstand a lunchbox journey. Keep the sauce in a separate container and dress the salad just before you eat it.
More salad recipes here.
Fennel Salad with Ginger Carrot Dressing
Equipment
- Juicer
Ingredients
Fennel Salad
- ½ small lemon
- 1 large fennel bulb
- 1 large orange – peeled removing as much of the pith as possible and sliced into whole rounds
- 2 large spring onions
- 1 medium apple finely depending on seasonality and availability you could swap in avocado, celery or cucmber
- 2-3 large handfuls of mixed salad mâche (lamb's lettuce), winter purslane, spicy mustards, mizuna, arugula (rocket), chicories (radicchio, Belgium endive or escarole) or rocket…..
- 1 small handful of walnuts
- ½ tsp fennel seeds – lightly crushed
- salt and pepper
Carrot Ginger Dressing (makes 200ml)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar you can sub with a mild white wine vinegar or apple cider*
- 2 carrots (juiced) for 5 tbsps juice
- 3 cm ginger for 2 tbsps juice
- 2 cm turmeric
- ½ orange
- ⅔ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Mirin or 1 tsp rice vinegar**
- salt to taste
Instructions
Ginger Carrot Dressing
- Juice the turmeric and then add enough orange segments to give you approx 2 tbsps of juice. (Juice the turmeric first; as you juice the other ingredients, you extract the maximum turmeric).
- Continue juicing with the carrots to give 5 tbsp of juice and ginger to give 2 tbsp of juice.
- Add all the remaining ingredients either to a jar and shake well or a mini mixer and whizz until thorouglly emulsified.
- Add salt to taste.
Fennel Salad
- Squeeze half the lemon into the salad bowl or container you are making the salad in.
- Finely slice all the ingredients and toss well in the lemon juice. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp of salt. Reserve the fennel fonds as a garnish.
- When you are ready to serve, toss in the salad leaves, fennel seeds and walnuts and drizzle over a generous amount of ginger dressing. Garnish with fennel fonds. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
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