Inspiration for a new recipe can come in different forms and from different sources, which is the case with this fennel salad. Back in August I saw Soni’s Food Indian Spice Roasted Fennel and pinned it as a reminder to make it one day. Then a few weeks ago when I dropped into the Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Company for a purchase and a tasting, I was asked if I would create a recipe and write a post on one of its products – specifically its Cranberry Balsamic vinegar. After tasting this awesome balsamic and going through several different ideas for a recipe, I lit upon the marriage of Soni’s roasted fennel with the cranberry balsamic and thus this Roasted Fennel Salad with Cranberry Balsamic was born.
This beautiful fennel salad is made with red chile spiced roasted fennel and a generous drizzle of cranberry balsamic, topped with feta cheese, pomegranate seeds and daikon sprouts. It is an enticing mix of hot and cold, sweet and tart, crunchy and soft. It pairs well with pork and poultry, and is the perfect salad for a soup and salad. It pairs quite well with this red pepper soup.
But before we go to the recipe, I must say something about the Cranberry Balsamic. Have you ever opened a balsamic vinegar and just wanted to pour it in a glass and drink it? Well, that’s what I wanted to do with this cranberry balsamic. What a perfect marriage of a great balsamic to an infusion of cranberry – sweet with a touch of cranberry tartness. This is a balsamic that I will keep in my pantry year round, but unfortunately, they no longer carry it. I’m searching for another source.
To learn more about the Santa Fe Olive Oil and Balsamic Company, read the information below.
Roasted Fennel Salad with Cranberry Balsamic
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 2 large fennel bulbs, cored, sliced vertically into ¼-½” slices
- 1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil
- ½ tsp. red chile spice blend*
- ~2 Tbsp. feta, crumbled
- Daikon radish sprouts*, chopped if desired
- Pomegranate seeds
- Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Company Cranberry Balsamic*
- Preheat oven to 400°
Slice the fennel and transfer to large bowl.
Whisk together the olive oil and red chile spice blend. Add the fennel and toss to coat with oil and spice.
- Transfer fennel to a 9″ x 13” casserole dish and spread out evenly.
- Place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flip the fennel over. Return to oven and roast another 15 minutes*.
- Remove from the oven. Divide the fennel between 4 salad plates.
- Drizzle a generous amount of cranberry balsamic on top of fennel.
- Top each serving with feta, sprouts and pomegranate seeds.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
This salad has a lot of versatility to it. You can change the spices that you use on the roasted fennel, change the type of sprouts and seeds, and the balsamic (if you dare :)). It’s another one of those dishes that can be adjusted to what’s available in your area and in your pantry.
Red chile spice blend – This spice mix gives the fennel, and thus the salad, a slightly spicy and smoky flavor. If you haven’t made this blend yet, then just add some red chile powder, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powder, and salt to the olive oil.
Daikon Sprouts – The Daikon sprouts could be substituted with any type of radish sprout, a small bean sprout, or alfafa sprout, actually any sprout you enjoy. Bobby found the whole sprouts hard to manage, so I cut them into smaller pieces which worked quite well.
Cranberry Balsamic – If you don’t have a cranberry balsamic, then use your favorite balsamic and replace the pomegranate seeds with dried cranberries, or in addition to.
Cook time – We found that just 15 minutes of cook time left the fennel a bit too crunchy for our tastes; therefore, I added another 15 minutes which resulted in a slightly crunchy fennel, a more preferred texture for us. Therefore, you might want to test the fennel after 15 minutes for your preferred texture and go from there.
Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co.
The Santa Fe Olive Oil & Balsamic Co. is a local company with two locations: A Santa Fe location just off the Santa Fe Plaza and an Albuquerque location in the Nob Hill Shopping Center. Each location encourages its visitors to test the company’s numerous varieties of olive oils and balsamic vinegars.
Olive Oils –This company carries olive oil from Greece, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Chile – one of my favorites being a Chilean Picual Olive Oil. It also have a wide variety of infused olive oils from roasted red chile to habanero, lavender to rosemary. Its gourmet oils have an even large variety: black & white truffle oils, bacon, meyer lemons, butter, cilantro lime and sun-dried tomato – just to name a few.
Balsamic – If you are a balsamic vinegar fanatic, then you really do need to check this place out. Its 25 Star Traditional is one of its best sellers and one of my favorites. But the ones you can have fun with and that inspire a variety of creations are the infused vinegars. These vinegars range from fruity (e.g., cherry, blackberry ginger, Manderin orange, green apple, fig), to more savory (e.g., smoked balsamic, garlic, espresso, garlic cilantro).
So next time you are in Santa Fe or Albuquerque, be sure to stop in and get a taste or two or three. Actually, plan to stay a while. There’s a lot to take in. But you don’t have to be present to buy. You can buy online at its online store.
Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation for this post other than a bottle of Cranberry Balsamic. The Fennel Salad recipe and the opinion of the balsamic are my own.
If you enjoyed this Roasted Fennel Salad with Cranberry Balsamic, then you probably will also enjoy these other festive salads.
These look so good. And the presentation is so cute! This is such a beautiful, healthy salad.
Thanks so much Mike!
Absolutely gorgeous salad MJ – both visually and ingredients. I can’t believe I’ve never roasted fennel. I’ve been eating it raw for a decade now but I have to say roasting this time of year sounds like a particularly good idea (warmth… ) plus, I imagine it creates a whole different level of flavor not to mention texture. Cranberry balsamic vinegar does sound good enough to drink 🙂 thank you for the introduction.
It’s funny that raw seems to be the prefer method of eating for fresh fennel. But it’s SO GOOD roasted. Bobby isn’t crazy about fresh fennel but he really loves it roasted. It’s sweeter and has less of the pungent licorice flavor. Thanks Kelly!
Cranberry Balsamic Marinade? Oh wow, you are definitely speaking my language, MJ! Love this beautiful, seasonal salad!
Thanks so much April! That cranberry balsamic is amazing!
Sounds lovely and looks so so pretty!
Thanks Darlin!
Next time my office mate gives me some fennel this will be in my menu list. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe
I do think you’ll enjoy it! Thanks Raymund!
Wow the sound of “cranberry balsamic” alone is super appetizing! Great way to use it for salad, and I do love fennel salad too! Your salad looks so Christmassy and beautiful, MJ!
Thanks so much Nami!
Such a gorgeous and mysterious-looking plate! I would never guess it’s fennel! I fell in love with fennel as soon as I tasted it raw (I knew only the mushy overcooked versions before) so now I guess it’s time to experiment it roasted. Especially when it’s made Indian way. I love your dish! (I can imagine how good the vinegar is…. here we have a shop selling different flavoured vinegars – and also unflavoured – and their mango and black currant vinegars are exactly as you say: one wants to pour a glass and empty it in one go.)
Thanks for much Sissi! I’m with you, I like my fennel, even my roasted fennel still a little crunchy. Bobby likes the mushy kind. 🙂 If you like it the Indian way, you really need to check out Soni’s Indian roasted fennel. Her flavors look fabulous! Have you tried the chocolate balsamic yet? A friend gave me a bottle last year and it’s awesome!
Chocolate balsamic??? Wow! I’ve never heard about it. I must see if I can get it here! It sounds fantastic.
You should try it. It’s REALLY good!
New to me, never tasted cranberry balsamic before, Your recipe is great way to explore it. Sounds so yum…
Thanks so much!
What a great holiday recipe and of course I am pinning the Santa Fe Oil Co. to my “Places to Go” board! 🙂
Thanks Debra! If you end of in Albuquerque, I could meet you for an oil and vinegar tasting. 🙂
I love fruity balsamic vinegar and gives such a special touch to the salad! You made one fine dish MJ and the flavors are perfectly matched! Pinned!
Thanks so much Katerina! Thanks for pinning!
What a great looking dish, MJ! It would certainly feel at home on any holiday table. Love that you included substitutions for the ingredients that we may be lacking. Come to think of it, I’ve a couple bottles of flavored balsamic languishing on a shelf. It’s high time I take them down for a spin. Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks so much John! Yes, it’s time to get that bottle of balsamic down off the shelf. It’s so a wonderful flavor to enjoy is so many ways.
That balsamic sounds divine! I like how you can enjoy the taste of cranberries all year round with it, too.
I agree Carolyn. It is definitely a flavor I’ll enjoy year round.
Oh yum!
What a pretty dish!
Thanks for sharing
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
xx
Thanks so much Julie!
What a festive looking salad! So fresh and colorful!
Thanks Melanie!
I LOVE fennel so this is a great salad. I can only imagine how wonderful it is with this great balsamic find! Very festive my dear!
Thanks Evelyne! Those beautiful pomegranate seeds do make it quite festive. 🙂
Very festive, great for entertaining!
Thanks Amy!
Oooh MJ, what a lovely winter salad! I love everything about it and it looks beautiful.
Thanks so much Amy!
Your salad is so pretty and it has wonderful presentation. I think it’s the perfect salad to grace a table on Christmas Day – the colours are perfect. I’ve never heard of, nor have I seen, cranberry balsamic – I will now try to track some down xx
Thanks so much Charlie! It would be pretty on a Christmas table and actually a great dish because it’s not too sweet not heavy.
I don’t think I’ve actually ever poured balsamic vinegar into a glass, but I’ve certainly had a spoonful of it before. Once. Or twice. Before I stopped counting. 🙂 Love fennel, and this is such a good way to use it. Really nifty recipe — thanks.
Well, I was tempted to use a glass on this one. 🙂 Thanks John!
MJ this is so pretty and unique. I especially like the sound of the vinaigrette. I will without a doubt make this. Hope your Thanksgiving was great!
thanks so much Vicki! We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hope you did too!
Amazing photos! I wish I had one of these right now to dig into. You can bet we will be doing so soon. I seldom use fennel. Not really sure I don’t do so more often. It’s just not one of those things I think about as a staple.I like the idea of sweet and spicy. I don’t have any cranberry balsamic but I do have both fig and cherry. One of those should do the trick. If I get back to my oil and vinegar store soon I look for the cranberry.
Thanks Darlin! I had fun with this. 🙂 I actually don’t use fennel much because Bobby isn’t a fan of raw fennel, but he does like it roasted and was a huge fan of this salad. Cherry would definitely work but I curious as to how fig would works. If you use it, let me know.
I had some raw fennel salad for the lunch today…bet the roasting brings out wonderful flavour and aroma from fennel. A great salad, MJ.
Yes, roasted does enhance its flavor but in a richer, milder way. It’s quite a bit smoother on the palate. Thanks!
I love this MJ! Fennel is a favorite salad vegetable during the holidays, but I’ve always used it raw. I love the idea of roasting it. Of course incorporating red chile never hurts either. I was able to move with a supply of Dixon red chile, so I’ll have to give this a try. I hope I can find the cranberry balsamic!
Thanks so much Tamara! Fennel is quite a bit milder in flavor when roasted. Bobby is not a raw fennel fan, but he loves it roasted. And yes, the red chile never hurts. 🙂 Hope you do get a chance to try this. It’s quite good!
I love everything about this, MJ! Pinning!! And how fun to go vinegar and olive oil tasting. We recently did this in Carmel Valley when we took a short trip there, and stopped by a tasting place and felt the same way about a Blackberry Balsamic Vinegar. I’m off to check out the Santa Fe company!
Thanks so much Susan! Oil and vinegar tasting quite fun, especially when it’s good oil & vinegar. Blackberry Balsamic sounds wonderful!