This spring fennel salad is a refreshing and nutritious recipe with mixed greens, fresh peas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, feta, and pumpkin seeds. It requires very little prep and comes together so beautifully. Such a delicious and healthy recipe to celebrate the fresh flavors of the season!
This is a “wow” salad. Every time I’ve served it, I get a “wow!” from at least one guest. It’s crunchy and satisfying, light but full of flavor. The fennel also doesn’t overwhelm. It just gives the salad a delicate, intriguing dimension that tastes like spring!
I like to serve this salad with homemade Italian croutons and an apple cider vinaigrette, but you can use just about any dressing you like, as long as it’s light and bright!
I also topped this salad with pretty, dry edible pansies that I found on Amazon. They make it look so delightfully floral and seasonal!
Ingredient Notes
Fresh Peas – fresh (not frozen) peas can sometimes be tricky to find, depending on where you live and the produce in your stores. Interestingly, I find them easily in Brooklyn fruit and vegetable bodegas, but you can probably find them in stores like Whole Foods. If you can’t find them fresh, however, feel free to use canned or thawed frozen peas. They won’t be as crunchy, but they’ll be just as tasty.
Fennel – Just a tip: if you save the fronds, they’re a delicious addition to homemade soup broths.
Pepitas – These are shell-less pumpkin seeds. You can also use chopped pistachios or shaved almonds to get a similar effect in the salad.
Mixed Greens – I like mesclun greens because they’re so colorful, but feel free to use any spring mix greens or arugula.
Cherry Tomatoes – I love yellow cherry tomatoes for this salad because they’re so bright and sunny!
How to Make This Recipe Step-By-Step
1. Slice ½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes in half and slice 1 cucumber in half-inch slices, cut in half.
2. Remove outer skin from 1 fennel bulb and remove fronds. Thinly slice fennel to the bottom, doing your best to slice around the core.
3. Slice woody ends off of 1 bunch asparagus, then slice remaining stalks in half.
4. In a sauté pan, sauté asparagus in 1 tbsp. olive oil for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and refrigerate until cold – about 1 hour.
5. Optionally, mix your apple cider vinaigrette dressing.
6. To ensure salad is nicely layered, place 5 oz. mixed greens in salad bowl first, then distribute sliced fennel and sliced cucumber between greens. Add chilled asparagus in small bunches throughout the salad. Sprinkle ½ cup fresh peas evenly, sprinkle 4 oz. crumbled feta, add (optional) Italian croutons, distribute sliced cherry tomatoes on top and sprinkle with ¼ cup pepitas. Carefully pour dressing evenly over the salad.
Just a Note
You can prep the salad ingredients a full day ahead of serving. Just don’t mix everything together until ready to serve.
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Spring Fennel Salad
Equipment
- 1 cutting board & sharp knife
- 1 sauté pan
- 1 spatula
- 1 salad bowl
Ingredients
- 5 oz. mixed greens – like mesclun or spring mix
- ½ cup fresh peas
- ½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes – sliced
- 1 cucumber – sliced
- 1 fennel bulb – thinly sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus – chopped in half, ends removed
- 4 oz. crumbled feta
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ¼ cup pepitas
- 3 oz. apple cider vinaigrette – (optional)
- Italian croutons – (optional) as desired
- salt & pepper – a liberal sprinkle
Instructions
- Slice ½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes in half and slice 1 cucumber in half-inch slices, cut in half. Remove outer skin from 1 fennel bulb and remove fronds. Thinly slice fennel to the bottom, doing your best to slice around the core.
- Slice woody ends off of 1 bunch asparagus, then slice remaining stalks in half. In a sauté pan, sauté asparagus in 1 tbsp. olive oil for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and refrigerate until cold – about 1 hour.
- To ensure salad is nicely layered, place 5 oz. mixed greens in salad bowl first, then distribute sliced fennel and sliced cucumber between greens. Add chilled asparagus in small bunches throughout the salad. Sprinkle ½ cup fresh peas evenly, sprinkle 4 oz. crumbled feta, add (optional) Italian croutons, distribute sliced cherry tomatoes on top and sprinkle with ¼ cup pepitas. Carefully pour dressing evenly over the salad and serve.
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