A fragrant summer salad of fennel, chicory and Italian salad leaves, topped with lightly fried Mackerel fillets and an orange dressing
Ingredients
- 4 mackerel fillets, fresh or just thawed, if frozen
- For the salad:
- 2 oranges
- 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs
- 2 handfuls of Italian leaf salad, or similar
- 1 head of red chicory
- For the dressing:
- 4 tbs orange juice (juice from 1 orange)
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tbs walnut oil
- 3 tbs walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
To make the salad: Take the peel off the oranges with a very sharp knife, removing the pith. Cut each orange into at least 8 thin slices, taking out any pips. Trim the fennel, keeping the fronds to add to the dressing. Cut the fennel into very fine slivers.
To make the dressing: Whisk the orange juice with the vinegar, mustard and seasoning, then whisk in 5 tbs of the walnut oil and any chopped fennel fronds.
Add the rest of the oil to a frying pan and warm through, adding the walnuts to toast them. Take out of the pan with a draining spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add the mackerel fillets to the pan, skin-side down, and cook for a few mins on each side.
Toss the salad leaves in a little of the dressing, then add the orange and fennel slices and arrange on plates. Sprinkle with the walnuts and put the fish on top. Spoon over more dressing.
Top tip for making Mackerel with orange and fennel salad
You can use hazelnut or olive oil, if you prefer — but watch out that the walnuts don’t burn.
