Herb Salad with Pistachios, Fennel, and Horseradish

We’re back!

We made it home earlier this afternoon, in time to eat a lobster roll from Maine Street Lobster Company, a food cart we’d been meaning to try. Ever since my brief love affair with Boston last fall, I’ve been craving one. It was a solid representation.

Here it is. That was the route. 18 days of glorious vacation. It was a lot of exploration of our own backyard. I’d hardly been to any of these places. When time off calls, I usually cross oceans, so this was a fun change. I’ll definitely be recapping the goodness in the coming days. If you’ve been following on Instagram, you’ve seen a few glimpses, but I’m hoping to steal a few of Andrew’s photos. Highlights included Old Idaho State Penitentiary, Craters of the Moon National Monument, befriending a donkey at a dairy, the Idaho Potato Museum, an unforgettable hike in Grand Teton, witnessing Andrew’s first rodeo, the American Computer Museum, stalking John Mayer, befriending a lot of chefs/servers/bartenders, visiting a town [village?] of 300, drinking a lot of local beer and eating my way across 3,000 miles.

In the interim, let’s talk about a fennel problem.

We all I know I have one.

[I also have a chorizo problem, but that’s another post…]

There are worse problems to have. I realize it’s a love it or hate it flavor since it’s so black licorice like. I love that flavor [thanks grandpa!] nearly in all forms, but fennel may be my favorite because of its fresh, bright crunch. Now that I have the mandolin, being able to slice it thin and quickly is encoring this problem. It’s definitely my new favorite piece of equipment in the kitchen.

This salad came about from the usual grill meat and eat vegetables dinner plan. It turned out so well that I made it two nights in a row, not just because there were herbs leftover [but that too…]. Horseradish is just so good on a fresh, bright salad. I used it all up in the second installation of the salad.

Ingredients

• 4 cups butter lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups parsley, tough stems removed
• 1/2 cup tarragon leaves
• 2 tablespoons chives, chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoons pistachios, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Toss the pistachios and fennels seeds in the tablespoon of olive oil. Cook them in the skillet until hot and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, fennel, and herbs together. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and horseradish. Mix well.

Drizzle the olive oil into the mixture so the leaves are well dressed. Toss half of the pistachio and fennel seed mixture into the lettuce. Taste for salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining pistachios and fennel seeds on the salads when you serve them.