Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad is made with roasted slices of fennel and beet dressed in homemade pomegranate vinaigrette and topped with crunchy walnuts. Golden nugget mandarin orange segments add a citrusy twist that is so refreshing when served on a bed of beet greens. This quick salad requires very little attention, while the pomegranate vinaigrette is bright, and bold, making this salad wow-worthy!
Although I am classifying this salad under American cuisine, both fennel and beets are native to Southern Europe. These veggies bask by the temperate Mediterranean Sea and have been cultivated for millennia. Both the Romans and Greeks cultivated these plants, and they had a variety of therapeutic and cosmetic uses.
My first introduction to the incredible Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad was when I was traveling with my husband in Pennsylvania. I had this cool salad accompanied by goat cheese on a very hot day, and trust me, that made an impression. Over the years, I have experimented with a variety of salads using both fennel and beets, accompanied by cheeses and dressings. This combination is the one I settled on. I love the combination of fruit, plant, and nuts. They are incredibly healthy and will create a taste riot of surprisingly complex yet complementary flavors.
Interesting facts about fennel and beets:
Fennel is a member of the carrot or parsley family and is related to cumin, dill, caraway, and anise. The common theme amongst all these plants is that their seeds are incredibly aromatic and are used worldwide. Fennel has a bit of history and is mostly associated with the Battle of Marathon. In fact, the phrase “Marathon” is Greek for fennel, and supposedly, the battle itself was fought in a field of, you guessed it, fennel.
The fennel is a diverse and useful plant, where the entire plant can be used. The seeds themselves are used to flavor slices of bread and biscuits, they can be pickled and used to garnish salads. The stems are used to flavor and accompany meats and seafood on grills, and the leaves are added to salads. You can even make a tisane out of fennel. The fragrant oils are added to soaps and other cosmetics.
The beet is no slouch. Many people don’t like the smell of beets because they tend to have an earthy aroma. As a home gardener, I love that fresh earth smell, especially after spring rains. The smell is caused by a naturally occurring aromatic compound called geosmin, and this compound gives beet its distinctive aroma. It is betalain that gives the beets their deep red hue. It was used as an early form of natural lipstick and cheek blushers. While the most common color for beets is the distinctive dark red or sometimes candy cane, they also range from white to yellow.
Benefits of ingredients in the Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad:
- Fennel:
- Heart Health: An excellent source of fiber and has heart-friendly nutrients like potassium and folate.
- Healthy skin: Fennel contains beta-carotene and vitamin C, which are important for collagen production and tissue repair, which maintain healthy skin and mucous membranes protecting organs.
- Anti-inflammatory: Being rich in antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids (quercetin), fennel can help reduce inflammation.
- Weight management: Fennel is low in calories and has a low glycemic index complemented by a high fiber content that helps maintain blood sugar.
- Red blood production: Fennel contains folate necessary for red blood cell formation, especially during pregnancy.
Note: If you are allergic to carrots and celery, you may also be allergic to fennel.
- Beets:
- Betalains:
- As I mentioned earlier, beets get their coloring from betalains. Betalains are a source of antioxidants that reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, or other diseases.
- Anti-inflammatory properties include managing Type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and asthma.
- Fiber: Being high in fiber, beets can help you manage blood sugar levels, and a healthy weight, promote regular bowel movement, and lower LDL cholesterol.
- Nitrates: Aren’t nitrates bad? Well, it turns out that nitrates or nitric acid keep your body healthy, acting as antimicrobials in the digestive system and promoting gut health while also helping to widen blood vessels. On the other hand, manufacturers use nitrate and nitrites to keep processed food safe. However, when high heat is applied to nitrites and amino acids, they can form carcinogenic compounds called nitrosamines. This is how processed food is prepared.
- Betalains:
- Walnuts:
- Cholesterol busters: Walnuts have polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids. This helps reduce LDL (or bad) cholesterol but also reduces plaque formation in your artery walls.
- Inflammation: They ease inflammation that can lead to heart disease by almost 50%, and they may reduce blood clots that can cause heart attacks.
- Anti-cancer: The bacteria in your gut convert the ellagic acid found in walnuts or pecans to antioxidative compounds which may help ward off cancer.
Note: If you have a nut allergy, you may want to avoid walnuts. Walnuts are also high-calorie foods.
4. Pomegranate:
- Digestive health: High fiber is important to digestive health and a half-cup of pomegranate seeds contains about 3.5 grams of fiber.
- Heart health: In addition to digestive health, pomegranates can also lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and are rich in potassium, which helps manage high blood pressure.
- Diabetes management: In addition to lowering LDL and promoting HDL (good), compounds in pomegranate protect against oxidative stress and cell damage that affect people with type 2 diabetes.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do I choose beets and fennel? Choose beets that are firm to the touch and have sturdy skin. The beet’s greens must be bright and not wilted. Peel the outer skin and cut it into slices. If you like using red beets, lightly oil your palms and the board while cutting them so the stains can be washed off easily.
- How do I clean and slice fennel?
Cut the fennel in half and remove the core using the sharp end of your knife as shown in the images below. Place the flat side of the fennel on the chopping board and slice it.
As with any fruit or vegetable, wash and clean the fennel bulb. You should also remove the core by cutting through the bulb and removing the core. While you can trim the leaves and stalks, you can reserve them later to garnish dishes.
Look for firm fennel with bright green fronds and a clean white outer skin and you should avoid bulbs with soft spots or browning. Fennel can be stored for about a week in your refrigerator, wrapped in plastic.
3. Can I use any vinaigrette other than pomegranate?
Yes, you can use any vinaigrette. But I think the pomegranate vinaigrette tastes best when used with beets and fennel. The vinaigrette mellows out the geosmin, while the tartness of the pomegranate offsets the deep sweetness of the beets. Accentuate that tartness by adding the bright citrusy notes of the golden nugget mandarin orange. The tangy notes from the orange add to the complex flavors that are beginning to build in the Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad.
Bed them in the freshness of salad greens that round and absorb the strength of these rich juices. To provide a textural contrast, garnish with crunchy walnuts and you now have a party in your mouth with every bite!
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Ingredients:
- Veggies: red beet, fennel; feel free to use golden beet
- Citrus: golden nugget mandarin orange; substitute with grapefruit or any orange
- Vinaigrette: fresh pomegranate juice with olive oil and fresh ginger
- Nuts: walnuts; other nuts that pair well with beets and fennel are pecans or macadamia
Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to make this dish. Please refer to the recipe card for the measurements.
How to make the Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad:
Prepare the ingredients. Peel an orange and separate the segments. Core and slice the fennel. Peel and slice the beet into 1/4″ thickness.
Place the slices on a foil-lined baking tray. Air fry or bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper until slightly browned at the edges.
2. Prepare the ingredients for the pomegranate vinaigrette. Use a blender to pulse fresh pomegranate arils and strain the juice. Peel and mince the ginger.
Make the vinaigrette by whisking the fresh pomegranate juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and grated ginger in a bowl and keep aside.
3. Toss the beet, fennel slices, and orange segments in a wooden bowl.
4. Drizzle the pomegranate vinaigrette and gently coat the veggies and orange slices. Top with crushed walnuts.
5. Serve the Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad chilled.
Tips:
1. The beets and fennel must be thick slices (1/4-1/2″) as they will shrink during roasting.
2. You could cut the beets into halves but increase the roasting time by a few more minutes. You can test for doneness by running a skewer into the cut half and it should go through without any resistance.
3. Add a few drops of olive oil before roasting the veggies to help get those slightly crips edges.
Serving suggestion:
Serve the Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad as a separate meal or as a side with any main course. Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad can be an accompaniment to a main dish or can be had as a meal. Raw fennel has a licorice or anise-like flavor. But when you roast it, it reduces the intensity of that licorice-like flavor, while giving it a nice burst of flavor that comes with a light char. Now, add the beet dressed in pomegranate vinaigrette right before serving. This salad tastes best when served chilled.
Storage:
This Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad must be eaten fresh or can be refrigerated for two days but cannot be frozen. Please dress the salad before serving to prevent the veggies from becoming soggy.
Other salad recipes that you might like:
Roasted Beet and Fennel Salad
Equipment
- By hand, bowl
Ingredients
For the Fennel and Beet Salad:
- 1 gold nugget orange segments
- 1 fennel medium
- 1 beet medium
- ½ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- ½ tsp black pepper powdered
- 1 tbsp olive oil for drizzling
- ¼ cup walnuts
For the Pomegranate Vinaigrette:
- 1 tbsp pomegranate juice fresh, strained
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black peppercorn
- ½ tsp ginger grated
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients. Peel an orange and separate the segments. Core and slice the fennel. Peel and slice the beet into 1/4" thickness. Place the slices on a foil-lined baking tray. Air fry or bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes until slightly browned at the edges.
- Prepare the ingredients for the pomegranate vinaigrette. Use a blender to pulse fresh pomegranate arils and strain the juice. Peel, grate or mince the ginger.Make the vinaigrette by whisking the fresh pomegranate juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and grated ginger in a bowl and keep aside.
- Mix the beet, fennel slices and orange segments in a wooden bowl.
- Drizzle the pomegranate vinaigrette and gently coat the veggie and fruit slices. Top with crushed walnuts.
- Serve chilled.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Such a unique and creative recipe!
this is so easy and delicious!