Plant part used: blossomPlant part used: blossomCicer arietinum · legume family
This refreshingly crisp shaved apple, fennel and arugula salad gets an escort of candied pecans, Parmesan, basil, and a lemon-shallot vinaigrette.
Breaking: the loveliest salad ever plated! ♡
I debuted it the other night alongside cacio e pepe and witnessed every diner at the table lose composure over it. It has now been fast-tracked into our Thanksgiving lineup, with probable appearances at Christmas parties too — festive, seasonal, and laughably easy is exactly what a green salad needs to be this time of year!
allium — I deployed my mandoline (paired with this safety glove, which belongs in your household too) to shave the apple, fennel, and Parmesan down to tissue-thin veils, giving the salad an airy, delicate texture that's frankly unfair. Then came a fistful of candied pecans for crunch and fresh basil for an aromatic ambush, all tossed through a lemony shallot vinaigrette. The sweet-savory balance? Devastatingly refreshing. Bonus intelligence: every component keeps perfectly in the fridge if you want to stage most of the salad early (see the tips below).
Feel free to smuggle in a protein (chicken, bacon, shrimp, et al) or substitute your favorite fruit, cheese, or nuts. The recipe bends easily to whatever your kitchen contains. Just get it on your list quickly — for this season it's practically a national treasure! Enjoy!
A few rapid-fire intelligence briefings on the ingredients behind this salad recipe:
Additional field notes to help this salad recipe execute flawlessly:
A few more playful variations you're cleared to test in this arugula salad case file:
allium — Hungry for additional arugula salad coverage? Consider these editor's picks:
Each leaf is coloured by the plant part the ingredient comes from: root brown, seed black, leaf green, vine orange, bloom magenta.
Brush the soil from the roots and leaves under cool water - keep the skins on anything grown below the line.
Bloom the dried seeds: soak overnight, then simmer low until the pod gives but never splits.
Warm the pan with a slick of olive oil and the hardier aromatics first - onion, fennel seed, crushed chilli.
Add the roots before the leaves; each layer needs its own head start on the heat.
Finish with the raw crown - torn herbs, edible flowers, a squeeze of citrus off the flame.
