This time of year, as excited as I am for all the comfort food, the hot meals, soups and stews, pumpkin baked goods and halloween candy – I do find myself missing all the fresh produce of summer. For me, there is nothing as satisfying as a healthy, crisp and light salad made from what is currently in season. I get so much enjoyment out of creating fall and winter salads, where the options are a bit more limited.

This simple and beautiful Apple Fennel Salad Stack is so quick to make and the finished result is so elegant and colorful. If you are vegan, feel free to leave off the cheese on top, it isn’t necessary at all, it just brings another layer of flavor that compliments the apples so well.

I don’t eat cow’s milk dairy, but I was able to find sheep’s milk Roquefort cheese at Trader Joe’s. Regular ‘ol blue cheese would work just fine, too.

I enjoy this Apple Fennel Salad Stack with a knife and fork, cutting wedges into it and getting a little bit of everything in each bite.

This recipe was originally shared on the Free People Blog BLDG 25, as part of my ongoing Restricted Diet series.

[print_this] Apple Fennel Salad Stack 

serves two

• 1 large honey crisp or gala apple, sliced into thin rounds, core removed
• 1/2 of a medium-sized fennel bulb, cored and sliced thin
• 1 cup arugula
• 1/4 cup blue cheese — I went with a sheep’s milk Roquefort — optional
• 1/2 lemon

Vinaigrette

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons honey (or maple syrup)
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Whisk the vinaigrette together in a small bowl and set aside.

Directions:

Fill a medium sized glass bowl with water and squeeze the lemon in. Slice the apple into rounds, about 1/4″ thick. Take a knife and cut out the core. Add the apple to the bowl of water to keep it from oxidizing and browning.

Get all of your other ingredients together. Place a small amount of arugula on each plate, then start stacking, one apple, a few slices of fennel, another apple slice, more fennel, as tall as you’d like. Finish with an apple slice, then add a little bit of arugula and top with your cheese.

Drizzle the vinaigrette over all of it. Season with a little freshly ground black pepper.

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