Simon's INCREDIBLE Fennel, Walnut and Crouton Salad

A FENNELLY CROUTON CELEBRATIONBecause we all know Yumi won’t ever, ever leave her crouton era. Here’s another use for them and one that we can combine with one of Simon’s loves – raw fennel.  It’s zippy with acidity, fresh with crunchy anisey fennel and the perfect foil to serve next to a roast chicken, something meaty on the barbecue or a nice piece of poached salmon. If you’re making the croutons from scratch then toast the nuts in the oven on a tray at 200C with them instead of in a dry pan.  Toast ½ cup walnuts or pecans in a dry frying pan until golden brown on all sides. (5–8 mins). Let cool, then coarsely chop nuts.Combine 3 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, 1 garlic clove, finely grated, and ¼ tsp. Crushed Turkish red pepper or chilli flakes in a medium bowl. Leave for 10 minutes for the garlic to mellow and flavour the vinegar, then whisk in 3 tbsp olive oil. Add croutons (3 large handfuls) and chopped nuts. Season with salt and toss to coat and let croutons soften slightly; set aside.Remove stalks and fronds from 2 fennel bulbs. Remove fronds from stalks and coarsely chop; thinly slice stalks. Place in a large bowl. Cut fennel bulbs in half and thinly slice on a mandoline (if you have one; if not, practice your knife skills). Add to same bowl along with ¾ cup torn fresh mint leaves. Zest ½ lemon over fennel, then squeeze in the juice. Add the croutons and nuts and toss to combine. Shave over a nice generous amount of parmesan and serve up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.