Fennel, Baby Red Cabbage, and Daikon Radish Salad with Miso Vinaigrette

This is recent work done for Worden Farm’s new blog, http://www.wordenfarmtotable.com. Reposted with permission from http://www.wordenfarmtotable.

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Our freshly-harvested fennel has fragrant, feathery tops. This is a favorite salad that uses the entire fennel bulb with stalks and leaves. It has a bit of a Japanese twist with the cabbage, daikon radish and miso vinaigrette. The flavors really complement each other, and the colors combine beautifully.

You can use any vinaigrette of your choice, but give the miso vinaigrette a try.

Preparation Time: 30 min

Make Time: 5 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2-3 heads of baby cabbage halved and thinly sliced
2-3 fennel bulbs with stalks and leaves, bulb halved, bulb and stalks thinly sliced, leaves reserved
1-2 medium size daikon radish, peeled, julienned
Miso vinaigrette:
- 1-2 tbsp red miso paste
- 3 tbsp safflower oil
- 1 tbsp mirin rice wine
- 1 tsp dark sesame oil
- 1 tbsp grated ginger

Preparation:

Make miso vinaigrette:
- In a separate bowl add red miso paste, mirin rice wine, and sesame oil, whisk to mix well then while continuing to whisk slowly pour the oil in a thin stream.
- Can be made ahead of time.

Make:

Remove any dry, wilted, or discolored leaves from the exterior of the red cabbage, wash, pat dry, halve top to bottom, slice thinly; place into large salad bowl.
Wash and pat dry fennel bulb, stalks, and leaves, slice green stalks off the whiter bulb, halve bulb lengthwise, cut out the thick core, slice remaining bulb thinly; add to the salad bowl.
Thinly slice the fennel stalks at a diagonal and chop some of the leaves; add to the salad bowl.
Wash and peel daikon radish, cut off root stem, julienne cut (1/8 inch x 1/8 inch (h) x 2 inches (l); add to the salad bowl.
Pour vinaigrette over the salad ingredients, mix well to coat all the ingredient with the vinaigrette.
Spoon into another serving dish or serve in the salad bowl.