Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Fennel, radish, and mushroom salad with lemon and truffle oil

This is one of my favorite salads and can be made in a cinch with a mandoline or the slicing disc of a food processor.  Thinly sliced fennel, radishes, and mushrooms are tossed with lemon, olive oil, and a drizzle of white truffle oil to finish - it's so light and refreshing and that hint of truffle is so good!  I use a little truffle salt and truffle oil, but if you don't have either, it's still a great salad just tossed with lemon and a good olive oil.  It's perfect on a warm spring or summer night alongside grilled, pan-seared or broiled chicken, pork chops or even steaks.
  • 1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and cored, fennel fronds reserved
  • 1 small bunch radishes, about 8-10 radishes, trimmed
  • 8 - 10 white button mushrooms, cleaned and stems trimmed
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, more to taste
  • 1 Tbsp. high quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt, more to taste 
  • 1/2 tsp. truffle salt or porcini salt, more to taste - if you don't have this, just increase kosher salt a bit
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, more to taste
  • 1 Tbsp. white truffle oil, more to taste - black truffle oil works too
Trim the fennel, radishes and mushrooms. To trim the fennel bulb, remove the outer layer if it seems a little dried out, tough, or bruised, slice the bulb lengthwise, and then cut out the core in a triangle on each half. Trim the tops of any stem ends attached to the bulb. Chop the fennel fronds and set aside (this particular fennel bulb I used did not have a lot of fronds still attached, but it's great when you get one with a lot of fronds to add to the salad).  

Thinly slice the fennel, radishes and mushrooms using a mandoline, the slicing disc of a food processor, or with a knife.  If using a mandoline, I like to set it to 1/16".  In the bottom of a large mixing or salad bowl, stir together olive oil, half of the truffle oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, kosher salt, truffle or porcini salt, and pepper.  Add sliced vegetables and reserved fennel fronds and toss well.  Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt or lemon juice to your own tastes.  Drizzle the remaining truffle oil and a tiny sprinkle of truffle or porcini salt if using, over the top and serve.

5 comments:

  1. i can imagine all of the pungent and earthy flavors would become divine with the lemon juice you include here. this sounds great!

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  2. Thanks @Cocina Savant! Let me know what you think when you try it out!

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  3. Mushrooms and truffle oil sound heavenly! :)

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  4. The salad looks fabulous! What a great combo. I can see why it is one of your favorites.

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