Fix: I was using an older version by mistake. Updating shows the option to get more addons than just the recommended ones at the bottom.
Kind of weird it wasn't included for awhile.
Probably because originally only a small subset of addons were allowed/available. It was only relatively recently that all addons were available (i.e. there wasn't a need for a way to find more, because there were only like 10 available)
A long while starting with the Fenix rewrite in 2020. What's bizarre is they took a very tightly controlled approach to rolling out extensions instead of developing in the open and giving users the option to choose for themselves whether to use less stable features or untested extensions.
It was kind of bizarre; the attitude is more what I'd expect from Apple than an open source project. There was very little communication to the public about their reasoning, and what they did offer was pretty unsatisfying.
Not sure what's causing the UI issues but another way to go about this is to create a custom collection and configure your browser to use it. This way you can control what shows up in "recommended". IIRC you have to use nightly, beta or a custom build like Fennec to allow using a custom collection.
Generally don't install extensions unless you really need them and they are well regarded. Otherwise it's like looking for new prescription drugs or medical procedures. The browser is a huge attack surface.