Fennel and oranges go together like peas and carrots! Add walnut and dill and they REALLY sing!
A quaint Italian place named Terelli’s inspired the walnut-dill dressing. Sadly, they don’t make it anymore. This is SO good!
Want creamy? Simply blend the dressing! Either way, you have to try this!
Orange - Fennel salad with Walnut - dill dressing
The dressing MAKES this salad very special. I use orange juice and umeboshi plum vinegar as the base for the dressing. It' a special treat!
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Fennel bulb
- 1/2 Head romaine lettuce
- 1 Cup Arugula
- 2 Oranges
- 4 Radishes
- 1 Baby (or English) cucumber
- 1/4 Sweet or red onion
- 1/2 Cup Walnuts
Walnut - Dill dressing
- 8 Walnut halves
- 4 Tbsp Fresh orange juice I use the juice from the oranges I segment
- 3 Tbsp Umeboshi Plum Vinegar
- 1/4 Shallot
- 4 Stems Fresh dill
- 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Chop the lettuce and arugula. Place in salad spinner to rinse and dry.
- Thinly slice the radishes, onion and baby cucumbers
- Trim the fennel and slice very fine. Some fennel bulbs are larger than others so aim for 1/2 cup of finely sliced fennel.
- Peel the oranges. Slice into the orange to remove the segments from the membrane. Do this over a bowl so you capture any just. This technique is called supreme.
- Add the walnuts and toss the salad.
Walnut - Dill Dressing
- Wash dill and remove the stems. Chop fine. Add to salad dressing carafe.
- Add additional orange juice as needed to the orange juice captured when you supremed the oranges. Add to the salad dressing carafe.
- Add the garlic powder and umeboshi plum vinegar to the carafe.
- Finely chop the shallot and add it to the carafe.
- Place the walnut halves in a baggie and use a rolling pin or potato masher to crush them. A canned item also works. Add finely crushed walnut to the carafe.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe.
This is not a thick salad dressing but it is oil free. Personally I like it like this because it adds a texture to the salad.
If you want a thicker dressing, you add a 1/4 tsp finely ground flax seed and allow it to thicken the liquid. You could also blend this dressing - with or without the flax to give it more of a thicker, creamy texture.
I recommend using fresh dill in this dressing as dried dill tends to be a little bitter and metallic tasting. If you do not have dill you can try rosemary or Italian seasoning.