Cooking With Maddie Newsletter #71

Grapefruit & Fennel Salad

Hi friends!

In the last newsletter, I told you I was manifesting Spring, and I gotta say — I think it’s working. This week has been absolutely beautiful. I’ve spent every second I can outside. I’ve been drinking my morning coffee out back, going on long walks around the park, and the windows and doors are open, letting in that fresh Spring air. Charlie is, of course, loving it. The trees are all blooming with those gorgeous white and pink flowers, green grass is finally emerging, and tulips are here! What all this really means is I have the biggest, goofiest smile spread across my face.

One of my favorite things about Spring is we’re finally getting some fresh fruit and vegetables. Now, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t exclusively shop in-season produce. I know, I know — we’re supposed to. But that’s just not realistic year round. That said, when I can, I do try my best to make recipes that incorporate in-season foods. Right now, that’s asparagus, artichokes, radishes, fennel and peas. It’s also strawberries, rhubarb and citrus fruits.

And that’s how today’s recipe came to be. I was craving something that truly felt like Spring and wanted to use as many in-seasons fruits and vegetables as I could. With that as the mission, the Grapefruit & Fennel Salad was born.

Here’s what you’ll need —

• 2-3 shallots, sliced into rings

• ½ cup apple cider vinegar

• ½ cup water

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ½ teaspoon whole peppercorns

• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced — reserve the fronds

• 1 large grapefruit, segmented or cut into “supremes” — you can learn how to do that here

• 1 granny smith apple, thinly sliced

• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on a bias

• ½ cup chopped leafy herbs — I used parsley, mint and fennel fronds

• ¼ cup shaved parmesan

• Extra virgin olive oil — use code COOKINGWITHMADDIE to get $5 off any Graza olive oils

• Flaky salt and pepper

We’re going to start by doing a quick pickle for your shallots. Slice your shallots into thin rings. I used a mandolin, but you don’t have to do that. Add sliced shallots to a glass jar and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple cider vinegar, water, granulated sugar, salt and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and pour the brine into your sliced shallot jar. Secure the jar with a lid, and gently shake. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Add your thinly sliced fennel to a big bowl. I used a mandolin to get my fennel really, really thin, but you can also do this with a chef’s knife. Also add your segmented grapefruit, thinly sliced granny smith apple, celery, chopped herbs and shaved parm to the bowl. Toss so everything is combined.

Top your salad with a few of your pickled shallots, and then douse the salad with extra virgin olive oil, flaky salt and pepper.

We served our Grapefruit & Fennel salad with grilled salmon and rice pilaf, but it’d also go great with roast chicken, grilled shrimp, or another type of fish.

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The plus side of this recipe— besides it being so good— is you have extra pickled shallots at the end! Throw those bad boys on top of your avocado toast, tacos, salads or chicken for an extra zing-zang.

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For what’s been giving me life, it was getting our photos taken by our amazing wedding photographer, Shannon. If you’re in the market for a wedding or family photographer, Shannon is your girl. We are so happy with how these turned out!

It was buying a plethora of Filipino cookbooks. I’m so excited to cook and bake my way through these! It was starting seeds for our garden inside. If you know me, you know I love to garden, and this year’s garden is going to be bangin’. I’m talking Cherokee purple tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, pattypan squash and more.

It was getting late night oysters and martinis at Blue Island Oyster Bar. It was deciding to spontaneously make a Saturday night surf-and-turf. There’s very little I love more than shrimp cocktail. It was attempting a spring onion tart — that one may still need some recipe testing before I feel good about sharing it with you all. It was searing some sesame-crusted ahi tuna steaks and serving it with chilled sesame cucumbers.

Last, but certainly not least, it was watching the newest season of Love on the Spectrum on Netflix. I seriously think this is my all-time favorite show.