Louisiana, My Danish Salad

My Danish Salad for a hot summer in Perth!

You wonder why my salad is called a Louisiana Salad if it is a Danish salad?  The answer is simple;  30 miles from Copenhagen there is the Louisiana museum of Modern art.  It is a must see museum.  It is an outside inside museum over looking the Oresund sea between Denmark and Sweden.  The grounds are magnificent and peaceful.  It is a place that describes the HYGGE feeling that Danish are famous for.  In a few words it is a place where everything just feels right.

I spent many weekends visiting the rotating exhibitions and brought along a string of visitors I had while living in Denmark.  This museum has great  contemporary  exhibitions (Warhol, Yoko Ono, Miro, Calder).  The museum is also known for its great café that serves seasonal and delicious Danish food and pastries.  I ordered this salad many times and often wondered what makes this salad so fresh and tasty until I finally managed to get the recipe from one of the chefs in the kitchen.  Let’s start with the salad!

Ingredients

• 2 gala apples
• 1 fennel bulb
• 10 big radishes
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of fennel fronds, finely chopped

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette

• 4 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 8 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

In a small jar combine all the ingredients.  Give the jar a good hard shake.  Using a teaspoon taste the vinaigrette for seasoning.  Adjust the seasoning and give the jar another shake.  Set the vinaigrette aside until you are ready to use it.

Method for the salad

1. Trim the fennel fronds close to the top of the bulb and save them.  Cut the bulb in half and  remove the course outside of the fennel bulb.  Cut a wedge out of  the base of the fennel bulb to remove the root and core of the bulb. Use a mandolin and slice the fennel thinly.
2. Core the apples, do not peel them  and then slice them in thin slices using a mandolin.

3.  Clean the radishes well, make sure to remove all the dirt and then slice them thinly using a mandolin.

4.  In a large bowl toss together all the vegetables and apples slices together.  Add the lemon juice

5.  Pour the dressing over the salad. Then the fennel fronds.

6.  Mix well all the ingredients and adjust the salad for seasoning.

Tips

• Make the vinaigrette ahead of time.
• There are not that many ingredients but the result is a very big salad.
• The apples will not go brown and you can keep it over night if you have any leftovers.
• This is a perfect salad for the summer months, it is refreshing, and tangy.  It is simply delicious and looks wonderful.