Shaved Fennel Salad with Cantaloupe and Mint
Fennel and ripe cantaloupe shaved to the same thinness on a mandoline, tossed with sliced jalapeno and torn mint, dressed with lemon and honey and finished with crumbled feta. Twenty minutes and no cooking.
Ingredients
Lemon Honey Dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey maple syrup to keep it vegan
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
The Salad
- 1 large fennel bulb about 12 ounces trimmed, stalks and core removed, fronds reserved
- 1/2 medium cantaloupe about 1 pound of flesh, or 3 cups sliced
- 1 large jalapeno sliced into thin rings, seeded for a milder salad
- 1/4 cup mint leaves torn, not chopped
- 3 ounces feta cheese crumbled from a block in brine
Instructions
Make the Dressing
- Whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper together in a small bowl until the honey has dissolved and the dressing looks slightly thickened. Set it aside, or refrigerate it in a jar for up to 5 days.
Prep the Fennel and Melon
- Cut the stalks off the fennel bulb and set the feathery fronds aside for garnish. Trim the root end, halve the bulb through the root, and cut the solid core out of each half at an angle. Shave the halves cut side down on a mandoline, using the hand guard, until the slices are almost translucent.
- Scrub the cantaloupe rind under running water with a clean produce brush and dry it with a towel before cutting. Halve the melon, scoop out the seeds, cut it into wedges, slice the rind away from each wedge and cut the flesh into thin slices about the size of the fennel ribbons.
- Slice the jalapeno into thin rings and tear the mint leaves. Tip the fennel, cantaloupe, jalapeno and mint into a large bowl and toss them gently with your hands. Everything can wait here, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours.
Toss and Serve
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss once more, just before serving. Do not dress it earlier: salt and acid pull water out of both the fennel and the melon and the ribbons go limp within about 20 minutes.
- Crumble the feta over the top, scatter over a few of the reserved fennel fronds and take it straight to the table.
Notes
Dress it at the table. Salt and lemon juice draw water out of both the fennel and the melon, so a dressed shaved fennel salad has about 20 minutes before it goes limp and watery. Undressed, the sliced components hold 4 hours covered in the refrigerator.
Scrub the cantaloupe rind with a produce brush before cutting it, even though the rind is discarded. The knife carries whatever is on the netted surface into the flesh.
Cut the core out of each fennel half. It stays tough however thin you slice it.
Thinness is the recipe. Aim for slices you can almost see through, and cut the melon to match whatever the fennel came out at.
Make-ahead: dressing 5 days in a jar, fennel 4 hours in ice water, melon 4 hours covered with the juice poured off. Add the jalapeno and mint at the end.
Storage: dressed, 1 day and softer. Do not freeze.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 395mg | Potassium: 620mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 3400IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 145mg | Iron: 1mg