Orange, fennel, olive and caper salad

This easy orange, fennel, olive and caper salad brings zing and brightness to the table. The salt of the olives and capers balances the sweetness of the orange.

This should really be made no earlier than 30 minutes before eating. If you want to get ahead, you can segment the orange earlier in the day and leave it sitting in the lemon juice.

This salad is perfect if you are cooking on a BBQ or outside on a grill. Or if you’re pressed for time, grab a hot rotisserie chicken or a wedge of goat’s cheese and some crusty bread and serve this alongside that. If you have any tapenade to spread on the bread that would be dreamy.

Orange, fennel, olive and caper salad ingredients

(serves 6 as a side)

• 2 bulbs of fennel
• 1 blood or regular orange
• 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons capers
• Around 10 stone-in Kalamata olives
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 10g chives
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Equipment

You can now buy the equipment I use in this recipe through my shop. I’ve spent years testing my favourite bits of equipment so rest-assured that whatever I recommend is the best tool for the job and will give you great results without cluttering your kitchen with unused tools. I receive a small affiliate fee from Amazon if you buy via my link. The products don’t cost you any more. These small fees help me keep creating all the free content I share.

• serrated knife
• chef knife
• board
• platter
• Microplane zester
• citrus juicer
• small bowl
• pepper grinder

To make orange, fennel, olive and caper salad

1. Zest the orange into a bowl then use a serrated knife to cut both ends off the orange then sit the orange on one of the flat ends and cut down, following the curve of the orange with the knife to remove the skin and any white membrane. Once peeled, hold the orange in your hand over the bowl of zest and use the knife to carefully cut in between the lines that separate the segment. This will mean you leave the membranes attached at the core and the segments will drop out. Drop the segments into the bowl then squeeze any juice from the core into the bowl.
2. Cut the fennel in half from root to tip. Chopping off any tough bits at the end of the stalks then cut each half into very thin slices cutting across in parallel to the root. Discard the root and put the slices in the bowl with the orange.
3. Zest and juice half of the lemon into the fennel and orange then add the capers and olive oil and toss together. Taste and add salt and more lemon as needed.
4. Use the side of a knife to squish the olives then rip them to remove the stones. Discard the stones and rip each olive into roughly 4 pieces.
5. To serve, lay the dressed orange and fennel on a platter, scoop the capers and juice over then scatter the olives on top. Finely slice the chives and scatter over the finished platter. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper, salt and lemon as needed.

AD – I created this recipe as part of a trip to work with Mirabeau wine in Provence.