Hi from the forest! It’s a hot hot summer, but I’m craving warm & comforting food every day. Not super creamy food but herby and fresh like this roasted radish and fennel salad with chimichurri. What makes this salad a wholesome meal is the smoked crispy tofu, which adds just the right kind of hearty flavor balance to this veggie filled salad. Also roasted radishes and fennel is my favorite veggie match of the summer. Have you tried them together yet?
To read this post in Finnish click here.
Roasted Radishes ♥ Fennel
Even if you’re not a big fan of raw radishes or fennel, I urge you to give this recipe a try! When roasted (or grilled), these vegetables lose their strong flavor and what’s left is a beautiful unique sweetness which merges perfectly with smoked tofu and zesty chimichurri.
Chimichurri Love
In my opinion chimichurri sauce is one of the best ways to use garden herbs, which are growing wild at the moment (not complaining at all!). Chimichurri is a herb oil sauce originally from Argentina and Uruguay and used mostly for grilled meat, which I think is insane because it tastes much better with plant-based food 🙂 My chimichurri is an altered version of the original but the basic ingredients are the same: parsley, oregano, garlic and oil. What I did this time to make the sauce even more interesting and also to combat foodwaste: I used radish leaves and fennel greens! These aromatic greens give a lovely extra spicy flavor to the sauce.
I love to serve family salads from the same pan I use for roasting the veggies. This way I get all the yummy juicyness of roasted veggies combined together with other ingredients.
So if you are going to use the oven in this heat (if it’s warm there where you are.. or even if it isn’t 🙂 ), I recommend using it to roast radishes. And fennel. Preferably together like this:
Summer salad inspiration
If you’re interested in more hearty salad recipes, here are some of my kid-friendly favorites:
Happy cooking!
♥ Tiina
- Roasted radish and fennel salad
- 7 oz / 200 g fennel
- 7 oz / 200 g radishes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 10 oz / ~300 g block of smoked tofu
- 3-4 big kale leaves or other leafy greens
- drop of oil (for massaging kale)
- ½ tbsp lemon juice (for massaging kale)
- Chimichurri
- 0,6 cups / 1,5 dl fresh parsley
- 0,6 cups / 1,5 dl mixed herbs such as mint, basil, oregano
- optional: fennel & radish greens
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt + pepper to taste
- 5 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- To serve: fresh bread
- Preheat oven to 390 F / 200 C.
- To dry the block of tofu: cover the tofu with a kitchen towel or paper towels and put it under a heavy pan, bowl or other heavy object for at least 15 minutes.
- Cut fennel into thin pieces and cut radishes into halves.
- Place vegetables in a pan and drizzle with olive oil + sprinkle salt & pepper.
- Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Cut tofu into small cubes and fry in oil (or butter of choice) in a hot pan for about 5 minutes until it's crispy.
- Wash kale leaves, dry them and remove the stems. Tear into smaller pieces and massage the leaves with a drop of oil & lemon juice until they're softer.
- Blend all chimichurri ingredients except olive oil in a food processor. Add olive oil and mix with a spoon until well combined.
- Let roasted radishes and fennel cool down for a few minutes before adding massaged kale leaves & smoked tofu. Toss until all combined.
- Add chimichurri sauce on top and leave some on the side too, or brush on top of bread.
- Enjoy!
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