Salad with Courgette, Carrot and Fennel
Refreshing raw salad with courgette, carrot and fennel tumbled on top of tangy sheep milk yoghurt dressing perfect for revitalising the taste buds.
Why I Love Salad with Courgette, Carrot and Fennel
Last time when I made my Fennel and Courgette Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts, my friends loved the refreshing flavours. The citrus vinaigrette bought out the freshness of the raw vegetables but also kept the crunch.
I was craving similar flavours but wanted to add a twist with creamy sheep milk yoghurt dressing as a base.
Using sheep milk yoghurt in this raw courgette salad adds another level of tang to the salad with courgette.
Plus it was great to get a whole lot of fresh, raw vegetables in one meal without too much fuss. Delicious, easy and healthy! What’s not to like?
Easy and Delicious Side Dish for Fish
Salads are commonly known as a side dish. Yup, we get it. We are working hard to convince everyone that not all salads are side dishes.
However, we also understand sometimes a good main dish needs a delicious sidekick to lift its game. Guess it is just a bit like Batman and Robin. Even a superhero needs a helping hand.
When cooking fish, I do find I love to match it with a tasty side dish to complement its delicate flavours.
Salad is a popular side dish for fish as it doesn’t always overpower the refreshing flavours and it pairs well with a range of fish whether it be steamed, grilled or fried.
When we last had grilled fish, I wanted a refreshing salad. It needed to be light with a good amount of citrus to cut through the oils. Plus it also had to be an easy salad recipe as it was a midweek dinner.
I decided to use fennel as the aniseed flavours match well with white fish. I then added shaved raw carrot and courgette as I already had them in the fridge.
For the citrus element, ruby grapefruit was in season so it was the perfect fruit to add some much needed tartness and sweetness.
Then, to tie it all together, I created a sweet, punchy sheep milk yoghurt dressing.
Other Delicious Side Dishes for Fish:
- Rainbow Vermicelli Salad with Soy Dressing
- Tropical Mango Salad with Coconut Flakes
- Yellow Doll Watermelon Salad
- Vegan Coleslaw with Pear and Apple
- Red Papaya Salad with Chilli Charred Corn
Difference Between Sheep and Cow Milk
For this raw courgette salad, I used sheep milk yogurt instead of regular cow milk for the honey garlic yogurt dressing.
Set in pot, the sheep milk yogurt was a Greek-style yogurt which meant it was deliciously thick and creamy. I found the taste to be more tangy and fresh but still delicious on its own.
However, is there a difference between sheep milk and cow milk than taste? There sure is!
Sheep milk has significantly higher milk solids (fat and protein) than cow or goat’s milk. It is probably a bit too strong in flavour to drink but makes it perfect for cheese and yogurt.
It also has smaller fat globules than cow or goat’s milk; therefore, the milk is more homogeneous and easier to digest.
Those who can not digest cow milk will find they can consume sheep milk products. Plus sheep milk has higher A2 protein, vitamin B12, folate and calcium and zinc levels.
How to Make Salad with Courgette, Carrot and Fennel
How to Prepare the Salad with Courgette
For the fennel, I used a mandoline to shave thin slices. You can do the same for courgettes and carrots, but I prefer a Y peeler because I am not that confident on a mandoline with smaller items.
Trim the top of the fennel, removing stalks and fronds, leaving the bulb and core intact.
Cut fennel in half. Then place the cut side down and slide fennel back and forth across the blade. Keep going until the fennel becomes difficult to hold.
Place shaved fennel into a bowl of cold water with a squeeze of lemon to reduce oxidation. Leave until assembly.
Trim courgette top and bottom and carefully use a Y peeler to slice courgette lengthwise into long, thin ribbons. Repeat with both courgettes.
Peel carrots and discard skin. Then continue to use the peeler to shave thin strips of carrot.
Wash and rinse radishes thoroughly. Trim the stalks and then finely slice into matchsticks.
Over medium-low heat, toast fennel seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. Stir and frequently move to avoid burning. Once they are ready, remove immediately from the pan.
How to Make Honey Garlic Sheep Milk Yoghurt
This yoghurt sauce is a versatile base for other delicious salads or vegetable combinations. Give it your own twist and toss in your favourite herbs or seeds.
In a small mixing bowl, add sheep milk yoghurt, crushed garlic, honey and lemon juice. Using a small whisk, mix until well combined. Set aside for assembly.
How to Make Orange Juice Vinaigrette
To tie all the raw vegetables together, I wanted a light vinaigrette to lift the flavour profiles. As we also have yoghurt sauce, I didn’t want to drown the salad. There is enough vinaigrette just to coat the salad.
Mix all ingredients well – olive oil, orange juice and salt.
How To Assemble The Salad
In a medium mixing bowl, add shaved courgette, carrot, fennel and ruby grapefruit. Dress with orange juice vinaigrette and mix well.
Use a large serving plate and spread honey garlic yoghurt in a circle on the plate.
Tumble dressed salad on top of the honey garlic yoghurt.
Sprinkle toasted fennel seeds and scatter pistachio kernels to finish.
Serve immediately.
This raw courgette salad is not one to dress ahead of time as the light vinaigrette mingled with yogurt dressing and shaved courgette can cause the salad to get wet very quickly.
You can certainly prepare the vegetables and dressings earlier but just dress and plate the salad with courgette when ready to serve.
Try this refreshing salad as your next side dish for a fish main course. I’m sure you will enjoy it!
That’s all!
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Salad with Courgette, Carrot and Fennel
Ingredients
Honey Garlic Yoghurt
- 3 tbsp sheep milk yoghurt
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Salad
- ½ fennel
- 2 courgette, small
- 2 carrot
- 1 ruby grapefruit
- 6 radish
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 3 tbsp pistachio
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
Honey Garlic Yoghurt
- In a small mixing bowl, add sheep milk yoghurt, crushed garlic, honey and lemon juice.
- Using a small whisk, mix together until well combined. Set aside for assembly.
Salad
- Trim the top of the fennel, removing stalks and fronds and cut in half.Using mandoline and thinly shave fennel bulb.Place shaved fennel into a bowl of cold water with a squeeze of lemon to reduce oxidation. Leave until assembly.
- Trim courgette top and bottom and carefully use a Y peeler to slice courgette lengthwise into long, thin ribbons. Repeat with both courgettes.
- Peel carrots and discard skin. Then continue to use the peeler to shave thin strips of carrot.
- Remove peel from ruby grapefruit. Carefully cut along the membranes and slice the ruby grapefruit segments out.
- Wash and rinse radishes thoroughly. Trim the stalks and then finely slice into matchsticks.
- Over medium-low heat, toast fennel seeds for 1 minute in a dry pan until fragrant. Stir and frequently move to avoid burning. Once they are ready, remove quickly from the pan.
Orange Juice Vinaigrette
- Add orange juice, olive oil and salt in a small bowl.
- Mix all ingredients well.
Assembly
- In a medium mixing bowl, add shaved courgette, carrot, fennel and ruby grapefruit.
- Dress with orange juice vinaigrette and mix well.
- Use a large serving plate and spread honey garlic sheep milk yoghurt in a circle on the plate.
- Tumble dressed salad on top of the honey garlic yoghurt.
- Sprinkle toasted fennel seeds and scatter pistachio kernels to finish
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can substitute sheep milk yogurt for cow milk Greek yoghurt for the dressing.
- If ruby grapefruit is not in season, replace with oranges instead.
- For a nut free version, replace pistachio with pepitas.
- The salad needs to be served immediately after dressing as courgette will release extra water and make the salad too wet.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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My mouth is watering. I have to make this tonight!
LOL! Hope you did!
I love all the fresh flavors of this salad, especially the vinaigrette dressing. Fantastic recipe, thanks!
Thanks so much!
This salad looks extra fresh and delicious! That dressing sounds amazing, too!
Thanks Taleen! Yeah the dressing is really light and refreshing.
I love salads with grapefruit and this was the perfect recipe to use all of the veggies coming from my garden! So delicious.
You’re speaking our language! Grapefruit really changes the flavour of a salad.
Love the orange juice vinaigrette, so light and fresh!
Yes it sure is! Great summer salad recipe.