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Spring Citrus Salad with Fennel + Poppyseed Dressing
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This delicious Citrus Salad with Fennel tastes like sunshine in a bowl! It makes the most of California citrus, paired with fresh fennel and topped with an easy homemade poppyseed dressing.
This is one citrus salad that deserves main-course attention!
Have you ever tasted sunshine?
Well… me neither, but still, I’m quite positive that it would taste just like this!
Every tasty ingredient in this refreshing salad compliments each other like I’ve never experienced before. I don’t think I would add or omit any component since each flavor and texture is so unique and strikes a perfect balance to this dish.
Also, those colors – vivid, complimentary and gorgeous!
Prep and assembly is a snap and all things considered, you might even have everything you need right in your fridge! Ok, but, maybe not the fennel bulb (also called sweet anise). In fact, you might get a little apprehensive to include fennel if you’ve never used it before, but believe me, you will be pleasantly surprised. Recently, fennel has become quite the trendy veg, so you may have already been served fennel in a restaurant without even knowing it!
I have come to especially love fennel and am always looking for ways to include it in my kitchen. I even want to start growing it in my garden!
Choosing citrus for your Citrus Salad with Fennel:
In this case, the largest element of this refreshing salad is an array of juicy citrus. I used Cara Cara, Navel, and Minneolas. They were all so sweet and juicy! I couldn’t decide which variety was my fave, so I just used them all.
A few more California favorites pull this salad togther:
The other stars of the dish are undeniably avocado, red onion, and fresh mint…
In truth, it’s hard not to stare, isn’t it?
Serving your citrus salad:
I served this citrus salad with fennel with a basic poppyseed vinaigrette that I whipped up (recipe included below), but you can always use a quality store-bought poppyseed dressing to make things extra simple.
While this salad is fantastic on its own, this dressing really adds a pop of flavor!
Here’s what you need for the poppyseed dressing recipe:
- Greek yogurt
- vegetable oil
- apple cider vinegar
- sugar
- shallot
- poppyseeds
- salt
Look for the Real California Milk seal when choosing your dairy products, like Greek yogurt!
Surely you’re getting hungry by now. Because I know I am!
At this point, I’ve tortured you long enough, so here’s the Citrus Salad with Fennel recipe!
Spring Citrus Salad with Fennel
Ingredients
- 2 Navel oranges
- 2 Cara Cara oranges
- 4 Minneola tangelos
- 1 fennel bulb sliced thin
- 1/2 red onion sliced thin
- 1 avocado sliced into bite sized chunks
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
FOR DRESSING
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 shallot chopped fine
- 1 TBSP poppyseeds
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients and whisk to blend. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (You can do this while you are prepping the rest of the salad.)
- Remove the rinds from the citrus and cut into bite size pieces. (Allow to partially drain in a colander if needed.)
- Layer half of the fennel, avocado and red onion on a platter or shallow bowl.
- Add half of the citrus on top.
- Layer the other half of the fennel, avocado and red onion.
- Top with the remainder of the citrus.
- Add chopped mint and a few fennel top greens to garnish.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Citrus, Fennel and Avocado Salad by FoodieCrush
More Citrus Salad recipes to try:
Jessica’s Citrus Salad with Olives and Fennel
A refreshing winter citrus salad with briny olives, thinly sliced fennel and a light champagne vinaigrette from our friend Jessica of Big Delicious Life.
Cinnamon Cayenne Citrus Salad
Bright, warm, tangy, and sweet, this citrus salad from Aida at Salt & Wind is for those who sought out Warhead candies as children. It’s an elegant play between tartness and sweetness. It can be made with any combination of citrus fruits (although you’d be wise to avoid lemon/lime).
Mandarin, Fennel, and Burrata Salad
This refreshing citrus salad from our friend Vy Tran of Beyond Sweet and Savory packs tons of flavor. All the ingredients play well together and every bite is loaded with creamy burrata, anise-flavored fennel, a bright citrus note, and an oniony kick from the chive blossoms.
Love the combo here quite tasty for late winter. Dressing is better left overnight.