Fennel Salad with Pomegranate and Goat Cheese

Name: Fennel Salad with Pomegranate and Goat Cheese
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1/2 fennel bulb (thinly shaved); 1/2 winter carrot (thinly shaved); 75 gr pomegranate seeds; 50 gr goat cheese (crumbed); handful lamb's lettuce; 1 bunch chervil (fresh); 2 tbsp mayonnaise; 2 tbsp of vinegar; pepper and salt (optional)

Can you believe it’s December already? Whatever happened to the year? In just three weeks I’m taking the exam for my holistic nutrition course. I failed our first practice exam miserably, but thankfully I passed the latest one with flying colors. That gives me a little more confidence! The exam is on December 21st, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

In the meantime, Christmas is getting closer too. And between all the festive food, I sometimes just crave something fresh and crunchy. This fennel salad with pomegranate and goat cheese is perfect for that. You get crunchy fennel and carrot, sweet and tart pomegranate seeds, creamy goat cheese and fresh chervil. And it’s on the table in no time.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions
How To Make Fennel Salad with Pomegranate
Storing
FAQ Fennel Salad with Pomegranate

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The combination of flavors and textures is what makes this simple salad so good. Raw fennel is fresh, crisp and slightly aniseed-like, while the pomegranate adds little bursts of sweetness and acidity. The soft goat cheese balances everything out.

It’s also a lovely salad for December, when there tends to be no shortage of heavier meals. I like it for lunch, but you can just as easily serve it as a fresh side dish. I love salads anyway so have a look at the salad recipes here for more inspiration.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Fennel – You’ll need half a fennel bulb. Slice or shave it as thinly as possible. That’s important here: thick pieces of raw fennel can be quite firm, while thin slices stay wonderfully crunchy without taking over the salad.
Carrot – I use half a winter carrot and shave this thinly too. It adds extra crunch and a little sweetness.
Pomegranate seeds – These give the salad its fresh, sweet-tart flavor and, admittedly, make it look rather festive too.
Goat cheese – Crumble the goat cheese over the salad. Its creamy, slightly tangy flavor works really well with the fennel and pomegranate.
Lamb’s lettuce – A handful of lamb’s lettuce adds some soft leafy greens without overpowering the other ingredients.
Chervil – Fresh chervil has a delicate flavor that works beautifully with fennel. Add it at the end so it stays fresh.
Dressing – The dressing couldn’t be simpler: mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper. The acidity of the vinegar helps balance the creamy goat cheese and mayonnaise.

How To Make Fennel Salad with Pomegranate

Start by shaving the fennel and carrot into very thin slices. A mandoline is useful for this, but a sharp knife works too.

Combine the fennel, carrot, pomegranate seeds, crumbled goat cheese and lamb’s lettuce in a large bowl.

Mix the mayonnaise with the vinegar and season with pepper and salt if needed. Toss the dressing through the salad just before serving. Finish with plenty of fresh chervil.

Don’t make the salad too far ahead once you’ve added the dressing. The fennel is at its best when it still has plenty of crunch.

Fennel salad with goat cheese and pomegranate

Storing

This fennel salad is best eaten fresh, especially once the dressing has been mixed through it.

If you want to prepare it ahead, you can slice the fennel and carrot and keep them refrigerated separately from the dressing. Add the lamb’s lettuce, goat cheese, pomegranate, dressing and chervil shortly before serving.

I wouldn’t freeze this salad; the fresh vegetables and leaves will lose their crisp texture after thawing.

FAQ Fennel Salad with Pomegranate

Absolutely. Raw fennel is crunchy and fresh with a mild aniseed flavor. For this salad, slice it very thinly so it stays crisp but is still pleasant to eat.

You can do most of the prep ahead, but wait to combine everything with the dressing until shortly before serving. That keeps the fennel crunchy and the lamb’s lettuce fresh.

If you can’t find chervil, you can leave it out. Because chervil has quite a delicate flavor, I wouldn’t automatically replace it with a large amount of a stronger herb.