Traditional Meets Tropical — and Everybody Wins

Fresh with spring produce, stylin’ with sprouts and pretty as a blossom, this beet, fennel and citrus tropical salad is suitable for both Easter and Passover.

It wasn’t always thus. For 800 years, Ashkenazic Jews skipped seeds and beans at Passover, classifying them as kitniyot.

That includes bean sprouts and tahini — sesame seed paste.  But seeds and beans were always part of the seder table for Sephardic Jews, those from the Mediterranean and Middle East. Over the years, Jewish regional cuisines and cultures blended, and finally in 2016, the Rabbinical Council lifted the ban. Seeds and sprouts for everyone!

How to Make Traditional Meets Tropical Salad 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop beetroots off from the greens. Save the beet greens for later — they’re related to chard, are tender and mild-flavored, terrific to add to soups whole grain and beans dishes. It’s free nourishment and less food waste.
3. Rinse the whole beet and wrap tightly in foil. Place on baking sheet and roast for 1 hour.
4. Chop the fennel bulb into bite-sized pieces. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. 
5. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, so fennel is tender and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. Remove beets from oven and allow to cool. Skin should slip right off. Both beet and fennel may be roasted a day ahead,, and stored in airtight containers and chilled in the refrigerator.
7. For the dressing, mix together tahini and orange juice, stirring well to create a smooth, creamy dressing. Add vinegar and give a final stir.
8. To assemble, channel your inner artist. Spread spinach or other tender greens on a platter or large, shallow bowl. Scatter on fennel.
9. Sprinkle on assorted Fullei Fresh bean and green sprouts, then top with tangerine, beets, walnuts and pomegranate seeds, if adding.
10. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. Dot dressing on top.

Sprout, Citrus and Salad Swaps

Sprouts have gone from hippie to hipster.  They’re the crisp, tender, nutrient-dense shoots of beans and vegetables, and there’s a world of them beyond mung bean sprouts.  There’s alfalfa, beet, broccoli and clover, and that’s just for starters.  Bean and green sprouts, like the ones from  Miami’s own hydroponic grower Fullei Fresh, are nutrient-packed, but anything but heavy.  They’re vibrant, fluffy and flossy — perfect for spring.  So don’t sweat it if you can’t find one kind of sprout, mix ‘em up.  Sprouts love that.  

Vary the flavors in this salad by dialing up and down citrus notes: 

• tangerine brings a spangle of sweetness
• grapefruit adds a little spank of tartness 
• If you’re lucky, you can get your hands on blood oranges while they’re still in season.  They taste like the love child of orange and berry, and have a garnet hue that makes them especially beautiful on the plate.
• Walnuts are my nut of choice.  I love their ruffly shape, mild crunch and rich flavor that can spin sweet or savory.  Besides, they’re the only nut with omega-3s. Substitute another nut, if you’d rather — pistachios would be especially fine — or skip the nuts and go for seeds like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. They’re delicious and get the rabbinical go-ahead.

Why this Tropical Salad Works

It’s a mix of flavors and textures, with raw and cooked components that come together beautifully on the plate:

• the sweet beauty of beet 
• the mild licorice notes of fennel
• the sunny sweetness of tangerine
• the crunch and happy fats of walnuts
• the lively lightness of sprouts 
• the creamy goodness of tahini

Another plus — the beet and fennel may be cooked a day ahead, so it makes for easy salad assembly just before serving.  It serves pretty and stays that way, without turning saggy and sorry, so it’s perfect for Easter brunch or Passover meal. Enjoy. L’chaim. To life.

Traditional Meets Tropical Salad

Fresh with spring produce, stylin’ with sprouts and pretty as a blossom, this beet, fennel and citrus tropical salad is suitable for both Easter and Passover.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 whole large beet or two small greens trimmed and reserved for another use.
• 1 large fennel bulb fronds trimmed and reserved for another use
• 1 teaspoon olive oil for drizzling
• 1 tangerine sectioned you may substitute an orange or a handful of kumquats
• 2-3 cups fresh tender greens such as spinach or arugula
• 2-3 cups assorted Fullei Fresh sprouts such as beet sprouts clover sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, spicy sprouts, crunchy mix and sunflower shoots
• 2 tablespoons tahini sesame seed paste available in most grocery and specialty stores, stirred well
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or other mild vinegar
• 3 tablespoons walnuts toasted
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds optional
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to finish

Method

 

1. Chop beet roots off from the greens. Save the beet greens for later — they’re related to chard, are tender and mild-flavored, terrific to add to soups whole grain and beans dishes. It’s free nourishment and less food waste.
2. Rinse whole beet and wrap tightly in foil. Place on baking sheet and roast for 1 hour.
3. Chop fennel bulb into bite-sized pieces. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
4. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, so fennel is tender and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
5. Remove beets from oven and allow to cool. Skin should slip right off. Both beet and fennel may be roasted a day ahead,, and stored in airtight containers and chilled in the refrigerator.
6. For the dressing, mix together tahini and orange juice, stirring well to create a smooth, creamy dressing. Add vinegar and give a final stir.
7. To assemble, channel your inner artist. Spread spinach or other tender greens on a platter or large, shallow bowl. Scatter on fennel.
8. Sprinkle on assorted Fullei Fresh bean and green sprouts, then top with tangerine, beets, walnuts and pomegranate seeds, if adding.
9. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper. Dot dressing on top.

More Salads for Spring

Okay, I have a thing for beets, nuts, fennel and citrus.  

• Here they are again  — beet salad with chili-lime vinaigrette
• My friend R calls this salad with fennel, citrus and nuts the sexiest salad ever. Just sayin’.

Both recipes appear in my book, Feeding the Hungry Ghost: Life, Faith and What to Eat for Dinner.

• And here they are a third time in this thrown-together use-it-up-before-getting-out-of-town-salad 
• Chef Tanya Holland’s chicory salad from Tanya Holland’s California Soul. 
• Miami peeps, catch her and other fabulous femmes at MAPP( mentorship. advocacy. purpose. power of women) in Miami May 1.
• Bryant Terry’s all-green spring slaw 

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