Spring Baked Salad

closeup shot of baked salad with shredded green and white vegetables and a red dressing in a blue speckled bowl — Baked Brussels Sprouts and Fennel Salad with Jammy Cranberry, Fennel and Orange Dressing

closeup shot of baked glossy salad with shredded white and green vegetables with a red dressing in a beige bowl — Baked Brussels Sprouts and Fennel Salad with Jammy Cranberry, Fennel and Orange Dressing

A riff off a fabulous salad by the queen of baked salads, Justine Dorion. My version includes a brighter apple cider vinegar,dill dressing and some tangy orange juice to keep this roasted salad appropriate for a 20 °C winter day in Queensland. This was also my boyfriend's first time eating fennel so I wanted to complement its light floral flavour as best I could.

semi-focused close up shot of glossy baked salad with cranberries in blue bowl

photo of bowl of baked salad, covered in white bean crumble in a beige bowl

400g Brussels Sprouts
1 Medium Fennel bulb
1 can of White Beans
1 tablespoon of oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes
Olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked Black Pepper
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Honey
½ cup Dried Cranberries
1 teaspoon Dill
3 Garlic cloves grated
Zest and Juice of half an orange

Preheat the oven to 190 ºC. Thinly slice the head of fennel, reserving the leaves for the dressing. Trim the bottom of the sprouts off and also thinly slice.

sliced raw fennel on chopping board with knife

sliced raw fennel on baking tray lined with baking paper, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper

Place onto separate baking trays,drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bake until the edges are browned and fully cooked, around 15-20 minutes for sprouts and 20-25 for fennel.

well baked fennel slices, crispy and browned at the edges

baked slices of browned brussels sprouts lifted by a metal spatula off tray

Drain and dry the beans with paper towels. Place into a food processor (a whole tin fit into my mini processor) and blitz into a chunky grind.

blitzed white beans spread out across a tray, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper

Use a fork to fluff up the mixture and place onto a baking tray. Drizzle with oil from a jar of sun dried tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Place into the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned. (A.N I wasn't able to fit all three trays in my oven at the same time so I started the beans once I removed the sprouts)

Make the dressing by removing all stalks from the fennel leaves and finely chopping alongside the dill (leave the dill stalks in as they will cook in the dressing).
Add the vinegar and honey along with the juice and zest of the half orange to a saucepan.

Set over a medium heat and roughly chop about half the cranberries, leaving the other half whole.
Leave to cook for around ten minutes, halfway through adding both the whole and halved cranberries and the fennel leaves. As the dressing cooks, if you find there is not enough liquid, add an additional tablespoon of vinegar. The cranberries do soak up a lot of the liquid as it reduces but they remain juicy and dress the salad nicely.

stylistic shot of cooked vegetables with cranberry dressing mixed through, being held up by spatula

Combine the vegetables on the bigger tray and return to the oven to warm up when the beans are nearly ready. Grate the garlic into the dressing,add the dill and cook for 2 minutes longer.

above shot of finished salad laid out on baking tray, looking glossy

Remove the vegetables from the oven once warmed through and pour the dressing over.
As you mix, the dressing will evenly distribute so it’s important to mix thoroughly – more so than you may think.

baked salad in 2 bowls with baked blitzed white beans sprinkled on top