The perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and crunchy all in one bowl, this fennel and arugula salad won’t disappoint.

Just in case your salad game is getting a little bit stale, here’s another unique salad recipe to spice up your repertoire, complete with raw fennel, baby arugula, and ribbons of candied orange peel.

You might be thinking, two salads in a row? Did Lindsay bump her head or something?

What can I say, I must be in a salad kind of mood lately.

Of course, the fact that the farmers’ markets are booming doesn’t hurt – all that fresh produce is just too tempting.

This one is obviously completely different (but no less impressive) than the lettuce-less Cumin-spiced Beet Salad I posted two weeks ago (another recipe inspired by my farmers’ market finds).

While this one might be more of a conventional salad (seeing that it starts with a pile of greens and all) it’s by no means boring. Spicy arugula, crunchy raw fennel, and sweet candied orange peel create a trifecta of awesome (and awesome is not a word I often use in the same sentence as salad, so take note).

(And don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of sweet recipes coming soon to break up all this healthy stuff. I’m not dumb, I know why y’all are really here.)

The dressing is fresh and light, made with champagne vinegar, shallot and a bit of honey. After I photographed this I added in some orange zest for a bit of extra orange oomph and to tie the flavors together with the orange peel (I tried using orange juice, but it just doesn’t have the same bright tang as the lemon in this case). Totally optional though, the dressing is stellar without it.

This recipe makes enough dressing for a double batch; any left over can be easily refrigerated in a jar or airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

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