Pear And Fennel Salad

Creating a balance raw meal is not always easy, especially when you want to use seasonal, locally-grown, organic produce.

For this early autumn dish I used ripe organic pears and fennel and created a deliciously fruity dressing to round up the composition. I wanted to add some pomegranate, but since it is not in season yet, I decided to use dried pomegranate seeds that are quite sensational. I also used hemp seeds and hope you will not have a difficulty finding them. Both, pomegranate seeds and the hemp seeds, are wonderfully nutritious superfoods. I encourage you to use them in your raw recipes as often as you can.


I normally eat my organic fruit with the peel on, but for this salad I decided to remove it. I dehydrated it in a dehydrator for a later use. On a cold winter day it makes a very nice tea when you add a little honey.

Ingredients: 

for the salad
  • 2 ripe, firm pears
  • 2 medium large fennel bulbs
  • 2 tsp dried pomegranate seeds
  • 2 tsp hemp seeds
  • 1 1/2 lemons

for the dressing
  • 1 pear, peeled and cored
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 cup cold pressed hemp oil
  • 2 Tbsp virgin olive oil (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp purified water (add more if the dressing turns out too thick)
  • a bit less than 1/4 tsp Chinese Five Spices Powder
  • 1 tsp pink Himalaya salt
  • freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Method:
  • Press lemon juice out of lemons into a bowl.
  • Peel the pears and cut them into halves. Remove the cores and cut each half lengthwise into wedges. 
  • Put the pear wedges into a bowl with lemon juice to prevent oxidation. You have to work quickly or they will turn brown. 
  • Whiz the salad dressing using all the dressing ingredients. Adjust the taste to your personal liking.
  • Cut fennel bulbs into wedges. Save the green fennel fronds for garnish.
  • Arrange pear and fennel wedges on individual plates. Add dressing and garnish with pomegranate seeds, hemp seeds and chopped fennel fronds. Enjoy in good company!


Tip: To make the dressing you can use the lemon juice in which you marinated the pear wedges. Simply squeeze more lemon juice if needed.

In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique

Dominique Allmon@2014