Fennel, Red Cabbage, Goat Cheese, & Citrus Salad

This fennel, red cabbage, goat cheese, and citrus salad is super crunchy and fresh tasting. 

The combination of fennel and citrus works beautifully. The yogurt, tarragon, lemon, and mint dressing is tangy and fresh. 

This salad is great on its own for lunch or as a starter for dinner. It's perfect for an al fresco dinner party. Plus, there are toasted pecans!

A cool part about a salad like this is, unlike a lettuce salad, it will last a few days and stay crunchy, kind of like a slaw. In addition, the fennel, cabbage, and citrus (not to mention the rest of the ingredients) bring a lot of nutrition to your table.

Ingredients:

Fresh Fennel: The bulb is super crunchy and slices up nicely. The flavor is sort of a very mild anise. You might even find it labeled "anise," even though there is a difference. The bulb can be eaten raw or cooked and is great combined with other ingredients. 

The fronds kind of look like fresh dill and can be used to season or garnish a dish. 

Red cabbage. 

Citrus: This time I used sliced "Pixie" tangerines. You can also use orange, tangelo, blood orange, or grapefruit slices. Be sure to capture any juice drips in the bowl. 

Goat Cheese: The precrumbled goat cheese is easiest. You can also substitute some seasoned goat cheese if you like. 

For the Dressing: Fresh or dried tarragon, plain Greek yogurt, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh mint. 

You will also need salt and pepper for both the salad and the dressing. 

This salad is pretty easy to make, and you can chop the veggies in advance and refrigerate them. In addition, you can make the dressing a few days in advance and keep it in the refrigerator. 

Procedure for Making This Salad:

To make the dressing, first, chop the mint finely, along with the tarragon if you are using fresh. 

Next, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, tarragon, olive oil, and minced mint, along with some salt and pepper to taste. Cover the mixture and refrigerate it for up to four days. 

To prepare the pecans, roast them in a 400 degree F oven and coarsely chop them once they smell fragrant. 

When you are ready to assemble the salad, prepare the salad ingredients. 

First, trim the fennel bulb of the end and the stalks and wash it. Cut it in half lengthwise and remove the core. Remove the outer layer if it looks dirty or bruised. Thinly slice the halves and place them in a large bowl. 

Next, Cut a quarter off from a head of a red cabbage and remove the outer leaves. Rinse the cabbage and then thinly slice it. 

After that, peel and slice the citrus you are using. If you are using large orange or grapefruit slices, you can slice them to remove them from their membranes. For smaller citrus, just peel them and slice them into half circles. 

Finally, crumble goat cheese over everything, add the pecans, drizzle with the dressing, and serve. You can garnish each serving with some chopped fennel fronds too. 

This is an updated post, first published April, 2013. 

More Recipes Including Fennel You May Also Enjoy:

Steamed Salmon with Fennel

Tomato and Fennel Salad

Fennel, Pomegranate, and Arugula Salad

Fennel and Golden Raisin Bread

Prosciutto and Fennel Pizza

Cannellini and Fennel Soup

Moroccan Shrimp Tagine with Ginger and Fennel

Sunday Funday Salads: 

This week's Sunday Funday community is celebrating summertime salads! Be sure to check out everyone's main course and side salad recipes:

• A Day in the Life on the Farm: BYO Chef Salad Bar
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Fennel, Red Cabbage, Goat Cheese, & Citrus Salad
• Sneha's Recipe: Coleslaw with Thousand Island Dressing
• Culinary Cam: Lahpet Thoke (Fermented Tea Leaf Salad)
• Cook with Renu: Marinated Fig and Mozzarella Salad
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Pasta & Sweet Potato Salad
• The Mad Scientist's Kitchen: Pasta Salad
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Spicy Mojito Cucumber Salad
• Food Lust People Love: Tenderstem Broccoli (Broccolini) Potato Salad
• Amy's Cooking Adventures: Vegetarian Greek Salad with Chickpeas

Fennel, Red Cabbage, Goat Cheese, & Citrus Salad

Yield: 4 servings as a Main Course

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 40 Min

This fennel, red cabbage, goat cheese, and citrus salad is super crunchy and fresh tasting.

Ingredients

For the Dressing

• About 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh tarragon, finely chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• About 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

• 1 cup whole pecans
• 3 large or 4 small oranges, tangerines, tangelos, or 2 grapefruits
• 1 fennel bulb, cored and finely sliced
• 1/4 red cabbage finely sliced
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped fennel fronds

Instructions

To Make the Dressing

1. Prepare the dressing by whisking the ingredients together and chilling them in the refrigerator.

To Prepare the Salad

1. Roast the pecans in a 400 degree F oven for 7 to 10 minutes on a baking sheet. Watch closely so that they don't burn. Let the pecans cool and roughly chop.
2. Peel the citrus and slice the outside membrane off of the slices for full-sized fruit. If you are using tangerines, peel them and slice them into 1/4 inch slices. Remove any seeds. Add the slices and remaining juices into a large bowl.
3. Add the fennel, cabbage, and toasted pecans to the bowl.
4. Crumble the goat cheese over the salad, drizzle the dressing, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Garnish with chopped fennel fronds.
6. Serve.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

449.45

Fat (grams)

31.62 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

6.81 g

Carbs (grams)

36.17 g

Fiber (grams)

8.97 g

Net carbs

27.16 g

Sugar (grams)

20.07 g

Protein (grams)

13.09 g

Cholesterol (grams)

13.87 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2013/04/fennel-red-cabbage-goat-cheese-tangelo.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

fennel, goat cheese, citrus

Salad

American

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Recipe adapted from What Katie Ate, published in 2012. It's a gorgeously photographed book.