Fennel and cucumber coleslaw

This is a great summer salad, inspired by coleslaw that accompanied a salmon sandwich I had in this chic-chic sandwich place in downtown San Francisco. 

It’s a snap to make if you have a mandolin, slicer or food processor.  If not, use vegetable peeler. Fennel is really fibrous when raw, so make sure to slice it paper thin.

Fennel and Cucumber Salad

1. Slice about equal amount of fennel and cucumber as thin as possible.  Paper thin is ideal. Cut them in about 2” pieces.  (I used half bulb of fennel and 1/3 of English cucumber.) Mix a little salt and drain water from vegetables.
2. Slice about 1/2 of lemon. Cut them in smaller pieces.
3. Add mayonnaise, dash of sugar, salt and pepper to taste, more lemon juice if desired. If you are using miracle whip, do not add sugar.  Mix well.
4. (Optional) Cut some fronds of fennel leaves and mix.

Tips:

• If your slicer cannot make paper-thin strips, try daikon radishes in stead of fennel, and slice both daikon and cucumbers in thin strips.  Use a little bit of mustard instead of sugar. It tastes different, but it’s great, especially with canned, shredded scallops.
• You can add boiled, chopped seafood, such as scallop or shrimp.
• If you plan to eat this in sandwich, make sure to squeeze out water well.
• Leftover fennel can be sliced (1/4- 1/2 inches), grilled, or blanched for salad or braised dish.
• Save the fennel stalks for making fish stock later.

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Tagged as: Benriner, cucumber, daikon, easy, fennel, fish stock, food processor, lemon, mandolin, raw, Recipe, salad, scallop, seafood, shrimp, slicer., Vegetarian