This salad is spring perfection, though you can make it anytime you can find good asparagus and fennel in the market. It’s easiest to make this with a mandoline. In fact, unless you have killer knife skills, you might want to invest in one for this. Part of what makes this very simple combination of ingredients work so well is that the veggies are cut into deliciously paper-thin slices.
When I have my Everyday Vinaigrette ready to go, I’ll use that, but this salad is best with an even simpler dressing that you can make on the spot. It’s also great tossed with cubed fontina cheese. In the fall, when apples are abundant in my neck of the woods, I also add thinly shaved apple.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine or Champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1⁄2 juicy lemon)
- Salt
- 1 bunch of fresh asparagus (about 12 stalks), washed but not trimmed
- 2 small to 1 medium-size bulb fresh fennel
- 1⁄2 medium-size to large red onion
How to Make It
- Place the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and salt in a jar with a lid. Seal and shake until dressing emulsifies and set aside.
- Holding the back end of an asparagus spear, run a vegetable peeler from just above your fingers to the tip, moving away from your body. Keep doing this, rotating the spear as necessary, until the entire thing has been shaved into very thin slices. Repeat with remaining spears, placing the thinly shaved slices in a serving bowl.
- Trim the bottom and outer leaves of the fennel. Cut the bulb in half through the root and use a mandoline to shave thinly, or place each half on a cutting board, cut side down, and use a knife to cut very thin slices. Add the thinly shaved fennel to the shaved asparagus.
- Use a mandoline to shave the red onion very thinly, or place on a cutting board, cut side down, and use a knife to cut very thin slices. Add the thinly shaved onion to the other shaved vegetables.
- Give the dressing a few shakes and pour over the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt to taste and toss well. Serve immediately.