Falling in love with radishes was a bit of a slow love affair.  For me, sometimes it is immediate and sometimes it takes a while.  The turning point was not until a couple of years ago when one of my sisters made a radish salad from the Simply in Season Cookbook from Ten Thousand Villages (which is a good cookbook…their sweet potato fries recipe is wonderful).  I saw their merits.  The bitter flavor no longer hindered me from tasting them and enjoying them.  From that point on, I realized that radishes can be delicious.  Now I love them.  Fennel was a different story.  Fennel had always been a so-so kind of food.  Never a favorite, just always okay.  Until my youngest sister made a Baked Red Pepper recipe from My French Kitchen.  There and then I was in love.  Fennel has, since that moment, excited me.  It literally makes me happy to see it at the market, to buy it, to eat a meal made using it.  I love fennel.

I loved the salad my sister made for her birthday weekend, and with a bulb of fennel and some radishes still in the fridge, I decided to create my own version.  Here it is:

Prep time:  20 minutes

Serves:  4

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 bunches radishes, chopped into thin pieces (save the greens for smoothies or salads)
• 1 gala apple, chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 1 fennel bulb, chopped into 1/2″ pieces (use every last bit you can including the stems)

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2c cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4c raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/4c lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• pinch salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• drizzle of honey

1. In a large bowl, whisk the first five dressing ingredients together.
2. Add all the salad ingredients in the bowl with the dressing and toss.
3. Drizzle a little honey on top to taste and toss again.

Enjoy!

(If anyone has a really good bok choy recipe, I have not yet learned to love it.)