Fresh Fennel, Apple, Red Onion Salad with Roasted Chestnuts
Serves 6-8

This salad can be served tossed or arranged and plated. Either way it is delicious and provides a great medium for roasted chestnuts (or pumpkin seeds).

Roasted chestnuts are soft, not crunchy. I roast, cool and peel them first. Then I cut them into quarters to sauté in salted butter for 5 or 6 minutes to firm them up and add buttery flavor.

If you aren’t keen on chestnuts, substitute Hazelnuts, Roasted Almonds or roasted pumpkin seeds.

Ingredients

I fresh fennel bulb trimmed and cut into 1/8” slices
1 red onion trimmed and cut in half and then into 1/8” slices
2 large fresh, firm and flavorful apples (Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji etc.)
1 or 2 roasted fresh chestnuts per serving or ¾ cup roasted hazelnuts or sliced roasted almonds
¾ cup mixed greens per serving

Vinaigrette

¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup extra virgin olive oil or hazelnut oil or almond oil
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
¼ tsp. sugar; salt and pepper to taste
Whisk all ingredients together until emulsified.

Procedure

To roast chestnuts: Make a ½” slit skins with a sharp knife. Put nuts in one layer on a sheet pan and roast them for 25-30 minutes at 370º. Cool just enough to handle (at room temperature the skin will stick to the nut) and peel, making sure all of the skin fiber is removed. Cut the nuts into quarters and sauté for 5 minutes in salted butter. Drain on paper towel.

1. Mix greens in large bowl. For mixed salad, add fennel and onion. Leaving the skins on cut apples into thin slices and toss with greens and ¼ cup vinaigrette. Taste and add more vinaigrette if needed. Sprinkle sautéed chestnuts or other roasted nuts and serve.
2. For plated salad: mix greens with ¼ cup vinaigrette. Taste and add more vinaigrette if needed. Divide greens among individual salad plates. Cut apples into thin slices and drizzle with 2 tbs. vinaigrette. Arrange fennel, onion and apples over each salad and drizzle fennel and onion with dressing. Sprinkle sautéed chestnuts (or other roasted nuts) over each salad and serve immediately.

*For this photo roasted pumpkin seeds were substituted for chestnuts.