Molly Stevens' Roasted Fennel, Red Onion, and Orange Salad Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Genius Recipes

February25,2014

4.3

7 Ratings

Molly Stevens' Roasted Fennel, Red Onion, and Orange Salad Recipe on Food52 (1)

Serves 4

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Author Notes

Three of our winter standbys -- an orange, an onion, and a fennel bulb -- walk into an oven together, and morph into a warm winter salad that virtually dresses itself. Adapted slightly from All About Roasting: A New Approach to A Classic Art (W.W. Norton and Company, 2011). —Genius Recipes

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs (about 1 pound untrimmed)
1 medium red onion
1 small navel orange, scrubbed
2 tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400 degrees F (375 degrees convection). Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (this prevents the oranges from sticking to the pan).
Trim the fronds from the fennel. Stand a bulb on its base on the cutting board and cut it in half lengthwise, cutting from the core end to the stem end. (If the bulb is more oblong than round, as some are, you will create two halves that are thinner and flatter rather than thicker and bulbous.) Use a paring knife to remove most of the core from each half (no need to get it all out). Lay each half flat on the cutting surface and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick crescent-shaped slices. Toss onto the baking sheet and repeat with the second fennel bulb if you have two.
Cut the onion in half, cutting from root to stem end. Peel and remove the root end from both halves. Slice the onion halves crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons and add to the fennel.
Next, slice about 1 1/2 inches off each end of the orange and reserve (you'll use these later to squeeze over the salad). Stand the orange up on one cut end and cut it lengthwise in half, and then cut each half lengthwise in half again, leaving you with 4 pieces. Arrange each quarter with cut side down and slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick quarter-moon-shaped pieces.
Add the orange to the fennel and onion. Drizzle the olive oil on top and season well with salt and plenty of pepper. Toss to coat and arrange as best you can in an even layer on the baking sheet.
Roast, stirring with a spatula after 15 minutes to ensure even cooking and again every 10 minutes or so. The vegetables close to the edge of the pan will brown more quickly than those in the center, so stirring and then shaking the pan to restore an even layer helps everything cook at the same rate. Continue roasting until the vegetables and orange are tender and the outer edges are beginning to caramelize, 25 to 45 minutes.
Transfer to a serving dish (I like to use a wide, shallow bowl). Let cool for at least 15 minutes or to room temperature. Squeeze the juice from one of the reserved orange ends over the salad and taste. If it tastes a little flat, add a pinch of salt and squeeze the other orange piece over it. Drizzle with a little of your best olive oil and serve warm or at room temperature.

Tags:

Salad
American
Fennel
Onion
Vegetable
Orange
Fruit
Make Ahead
One-Pot Wonders
5 Ingredients or Fewer
Fall
Christmas

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jessica
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Recipe by: Genius Recipes

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29 Reviews

jessica December 26, 2020

Given the timing (pandemic times), I made this salad as a part of my very non-trad Christmas solo dinner. While I love all of these flavors, I was a little concerned about roasting the orange with the peel and flavor. However with the first bite all of my concerns went away. It is a delicious warm salad that I would make again. I added a light honey champagne-vinaigrette but it’s just as good without.

Poniesss403 February 26, 2018

Inspired to make this a more filling salad for a desk lunch, I combined it with roasted carrots (roasted them with sage and a curry powder I had lying around), and threw some lentils on top. Mixed this salad, carrots, and lentils together and plated with ricotta mixed with olive oil and za'atar and it is DEVINE. I cannot wait for lunch tomorrow! Thank you for this delicious and versatile recipe!

Judy N. October 11, 2016

I love your roasted fennel, onion, and orange salad. It's wonderful. For some reason this time my orange peel went tooth-endangering tough. Never happened before. Any idea why?

Kristen M. October 11, 2016

How odd—my first thought is that the orange might have been a bit dried out (either due to age or just the nature of that particular orange), and so it dried out even more in the oven and got tough. In any case, sounds like a bummer to eat around—sorry to hear it!

Walter B. January 31, 2016

I was curious, because my cara cara orange was pleasantly sweet, and both the kitchn.com and wikipedia describe the cara cara as a cross between two kinds of navel orange.

Kathleen P. January 18, 2016

Found the tastes and textures to be significantly better at room temp, rather than warm.

Sarah January 6, 2016

This looks delicious! I am wondering about the bitterness factor of the peel though. I've made a NYT recipe with whole/non-peeled slices of caramelized lemon that calls for blanching the slices before caramelizing to cut the bitterness. Would that technique work here?

alexkeywest January 4, 2016

I've been making a raw salad with these ingredients, although sliced much thinner, for years and using a orange vinaigrette. I followed the instructions very carefully. Fortunately, I arranged each ingredient separably on the sheet pan. The fennel and onion were where I wanted them about 10 minutes before the oranges. I think some of the complaints about bitterness are related to under cooked orange. I I do this again, I'll sprinkle a little sugar on the orange so it caramelizes more quickly.