fennel + apple + gouda = crunch
I love it when my vegetables and fruit get all snuggly. Look at this:
You can certainly thinly chop and slice your apple and fennel with a knife, but I have done away with the knife for this salad. Behold the POWER of the mandoline. I have been converted to using a mandoline every time I make this salad now. I find that the stringy fennel is difficult to chop thinly with a knife. I like the papery thinness of the vegetables the mandoline creates: it is airy and light.
My mandoline is just a simple hand-held one from Kyocera — a ceramic blade to boot. I have not been disappointed. I have yet to be “anointed”: no slicing off of my fingertips or knuckles. You may hear a very different opinion about my fancy-schmancy blade then.
- 2 cups sliced fennel (With the mandoline, 1 medium-large fennel bulb = 2 cups)*
- 1½ cups chopped tart apple (With the mandoline, slicing one small apple equaled 1½ cups for me.)**
- 1 cup diced Gouda cheese (Edam works well too)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- Slice fennel and apple with knife or mandoline. If using a mandoline, I found the 3 mm setting the best for a little more salad "fluff." As you slice, you may come across the hard core of the fennel in the slices. Discard these bits.
- In a large bowl, use your hands to gently toss fennel, apple and Gouda together.
- In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Pour dressing over the salad and toss again to combine.***
2 COMMENTS
I made Julia Child's beef bourguignon this weekend. Give you a lot of credit..the clean-up alone is hard work, makes you wanna just go to Trader Joe's!
I've had my eye on that recipe for awhile — but what a production! You're right, Susan: Trader Joe's is a nice alternative sometimes.