This pickled fennel citrus salad is filled with grapefruit, pomegranates, and quickly pickled fennel. Tossed with an orange dijon vinaigrette, it’s the perfect winter salad.

The other day I got a text from my brother with a picture of radishes that said “from the garden, what do I do with them?”

My immediate thought and response was “pickle them!” followed up with “or just roast them like these salted rosemary roasted radishes“.

My sister in law preferred roasting so that’s what they did but ever since that conversation I’ve had pickling on the brain.

I adore tangy stuff. You tell me something is pickled on a menu, I’m ordering it.

I was the kid that used to drink the leftover dressing from the salad bowl (dressing was always olive oil + balsamic vinegar in our house) and get excited about it every single night.

Tart might just be my favorite of the 5 basic taste categories and that’s saying a lot considering my sweet tooth.

So to quench this pickled craving, I decided to quick pickle some fennel for this pickled fennel citrus salad. I actually have a whole recipe dedicated to pickled fennel but the instructions are also included in the salad recipe below.

Quick pickling is the best. From pickled blueberries for a salad to refrigerator spicy garlic pickles as a snack, I love it!

Fennel always reminds me of this time of year and holiday gatherings with some old person at the dining room table munching away at it in between dinner and dessert.

Apparently, this is a super Italian thing to do, something I never realized until recently when Brandy told me her husband’s family calls it “Italian celery” and the light bulb went off “ahhh!

So THAT’S why my family was always eating it!”

It’s supposed to help with digestion FYI if you’re still not putting all this together.

I don’t quite go to the extent of chewing on it raw these days but I do love it in things like this chestnut stuffing and this radicchio endive fennel salad.

Quick pickling is such a great way to add flavor to salads or even savory things that need a balance of something tart without the huge time investment and forethought of regular pickling.

Definitely check out How to Ferment Vegetables if you’re really into the pickling thing!

The best part about pickling is this flavor comes at no extra caloric expense, something particularly awesome this time of year when we could all use a healthy flavorful swap or two amidst all the cookies, cakes and sweets.

Tossing the fennel in some rice vinegar, orange zest and salt for just 15 minutes before putting the salad together brings a ton more interest to this winter-filled salad!

Sometimes I’ll also add pickled shallots to this citrus salad for another tangy element. I find they complement the citrus perfectly.

For more seasonal salad recipes like this, check out this winter chopped kale salad and this lovely persimmon salad – a holiday table worthy dish!

*This post is sponsored by Nakano as part of my ongoing brand ambassadorship with them. All opinions, content and photography are my own.