Vibrant Citrus Salad

I make lots of variations of this salad (you can find some of them here), because I just adore the combination of the aniseed freshness of fennel, bright juicy citrus, sweet mustard-maple dressing, and crunchy nuts. It's simply super-moreish.

Citrus is ideal eaten in early spring, and this when I make this salad the most – although it’s also very refreshing on a hot summer’s day, or to add a flash of brightness to a gloomy winter’s afternoon.

You can change up the citrus, if you like (for example, using more grapefruit and fewer oranges). The addition of a good-quality vegan cheese is lovely, but not essential, and you should also feel free to swap the pistachios for your favourite nuts, or even seeds – most kinds would work very well.

SERVES:
2-4

Ingredients
Instructions

Ingredients

For the salad

1 white grapefruit

1 pink grapefruit

1 blood orange

2 regular oranges

1 clementine

1 small bulb fennel

2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted

60g black olives, roughly broken up

40g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Handful mint leaves

60g vegan feta cheese, crumbled

For the dressing

60ml extra virgin olive oil

1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp maple syrup or honey

½ tsp sea salt

Good grinding of black pepper

To serve

Watercress or other green salad

Crusty bread

Instructions

Peel and thinly slice all the citrus, and squeeze any juicy bits from the rind into a small bowl.
Thinly slice the fennel, ideally using a mandolin, setting aside any prongs for later.
Layer the citrus and fennel onto a large serving plate.
Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the bowl containing the juice squeezed from your citrus rinds, and whisk to emulsify.
Top the salad with the toasted fennel seeds, olives and pistachios, then drizzle over three quarters of the dressing. Finish by scattering over the fennel prongs, mint leaves and feta, if using.
Serve with a green salad and crusty bread on the side.