Spring like salad that will take you through the summer months.
(France update: Back from France on 4/1. Hope to put together some of my food pictures and post soon.)
Sometimes it only takes a glimpse of a recipe or picture of a recipe to get me thinking of how I can change the recipe and make it more like something my family would enjoy.
When it comes to change, I’m content with pretty much what I have and I don’t really move things around a lot in my house. I get them the way I like them and comfortable for me and my husband and I’m perfectly satisfied. That’s not the way I am with food though. I’m not a meatloaf (I love meatloaf) on Monday, pot roast on Sunday type of person; I love making all kinds of food whether it is good for me or not.
Since starting the blog almost 3 years ago, I have loved trying to come up with new recipes. My freezers are full of meat/fish/poultry, so I can pretty much grab anything out in the morning, thaw, and by dinner have something yummy on the table. Most of the time that is. Occasionally I do have flops but even then I’m thinking how I could make that dish better the next time.
I tweaked this recipe from one I saw in Food and Wine magazine’s March issue. I loved the colors and textures of the recipe but thought I would like to have some frilly lettuces thrown in and definitely changing the nuts since I have no idea where to find hemp seeds.
Very fresh ingredients.
The fennel gave a nice touch to the salad. I never thought I would like fennel but wasn’t nearly as strong of a taste as I expected.
Roast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds with a splash of soy sauce.
I soaked my red onions in a little sugar water for 10 minutes and then drained. If the onions aren’t strong tasting you can omit this step or use green onions.
Lemon zest for the dressing.
Section your oranges. I had two varieties of oranges. The darker sections were not from a blood orange but sure had a lot darker color.
Red and Green Cabbage Salad with Fennel
Ingredients
- 1/3-1/2 c. roasted pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 c. sunflower seeds
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
- zest of one lemon
- 2 Tbsp. orange juice from orange
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp. orange juice
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 oranges sectioned
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced, soak in sugar water, optional or use green onion
- 1 avocado sliced thin, optional
- 1/2 head small red cabbage sliced very thinly
- 1/2 head small head green cabbage sliced very thinly
- 1 package baby greens or substitute your favorites
- 1 small fennel bulbs halved, cored and thinly sliced, save fonds
- 1 small bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350° and spread the pumpkin seeds on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with the soy sauce and bake for about 7 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Let cool.
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Peel and section the orange, removing all the bitter white pith, reserving the juice for the dressing.
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In a small bowl, whisk the 1/4 cup olive oil, orange and lemon zest, orange and lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper.
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In a large salad bowl, toss the red and green cabbage, fennel, avocado (optional), baby greens, red onions, orange sections and cilantro leaves, sprinkle with the roasted nuts and add the fennel fonds to garnish top of salad.
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Enjoy!
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