Winter Beetroot, Orange & Fennel Salad

A fresh salad, made from in season winter vegetables: fennel bulbs, beets, oranges and persimmons.
This colourful, fresh salad pairs well along heartier dishes like stews and chilis. I plan on making it again for a festive Christmas dinner side.

If you haven’t used fresh fennel in cooking before, give it a try. The taste of fresh fennel is unique but light and refreshing, unlike fennel tea which to some can have a strong, off putting liquorice like flavour. Fresh fennel is not so intense.

Fennel is a great digestive aid, so enjoying some along with large meals like Christmas dinner can be helpful in reducing the discomforts that come along after eating a heavy dinner.

Recipe makes roughly 4 side servings, double the ingredients for more if you wish.

Ingredients:

For the Salad:
5 small - medium beets, steamed, cooled and peeled. any beets would do, these are candy cane beets which have a lovely pink colour once cooked
2 ripe persimmons, peeled and sliced into about 8-12 wedges each (sub for fresh orange slices or two mandarins if you can't access ripe persimmons)
1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs, very thinly sliced
1 small clamshell of baby arugula or any other greens you like

For the Dressing:
4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil the juice of one large navel orange a pinch of each: salt and pepper

Optional Additions:
1/4 C raw walnuts or toasted pistachios for garnish
4 TBSP of plain goat cheese

Method:

To steam your beets, first rinse them and place in a steamer basket.
Fill the bottom with 1 inch of water, bring the water to a simmer and cover until softened (should be able to easily press a fork or knife through the beets)
Cool the beets in ice water or simply allow them to come to room temperature and then leave them in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.
After cooling, you should be able to easily peel the beets with a small knife or vegetable peeler.
Once peeled, slice them thinly for your salad.

Assembly:
Layer arugula, sliced fennel, beets, and persimmons into a large salad bowl.
Separately whisk together the juice of your orange with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Pour dressing over salad, toss lightly.
Cover evenly with nuts and goat cheese if using.
Enjoy!

Health Benefits of some main Ingredients:
Fennel - aids digestion, promotes healthy elimination and reduces digestive gas, source of vitamin C, fibre
Beets - rich in antioxidants which promote natural liver detox processes, improving circulation and blood pressure due to raised nitric oxide, beets are often used for athletic performance - increasing blood flow to muscles, a source of vitamin c and folate
Persimmons - another great source of fibre and vitamin c, rich in antioxidants which protect against cellular damage, slowing aging and support immunity and healthy skin