Fennel is a wonderful vegetable that a few people love and use regularly, but most people don’t know about. There are two types of fennel: one grown just for the frilly leaves for flavoring, and the other for the stem bulb, also known as anise. The leaves of the stem bulb type are also useful in and of themselves for flavoring.
I don’t have time to reinvent the wheel, so here is a great description of fennel from Cooking Light.
My favorite use of the leaves, because it is so quick and easy, is to chop them up and put them in salad. Gives a light anise or licorice flavor.
The stem bulb can be used raw or cooked in stir fries, soups, roasted veggies, etc. When I say “stem bulb” think a tight rounded version of a head of celery. It really isn’t a bulb, but we call it a bulb. The fast way for us to use it is to slice it down the middle and separate the stems to get any soil out that got in while it was growing.
Simplest – roast it. I suspect this would work on a grill also. Or put the leaves and stalks on the grill to flavor other things you are cooking.
Another simple recipe: Trim the ferny tops and remove any tough outer stalks. Cut off heavy base. Slice the stalks in thin lengthwise strips. Wash, drain and cook in boiling, salted water or bouillon until just tender,15-20 minutes. Drain and add melted butter, salt and pepper and serve.
You can stop there, or heat olive oil in a skillet, saute some onion, toss in the fennel for a couple minutes. Sprinkle on some black pepper and eat.
It makes an easy, different slaw. Here is a recipe from Cheap Thrills Cuisine. It is little more complicated than I generally get, but use what you have available.
Whisk together 1/3 C apple cider vinegar, 1/4 C olive oil, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1 Tbsp honey. Trim 2 fist size fennel bulbs, and cut in half. Remove core and julienne lengthwise. In a large bowl combine the fennel, 1 C grated carrot, 1 C thinly sliced red onion, 1 C julienned red pepper. Pour dressing over the fennel mixture. Toss lightly. Add 1 C thinly sliced red cabbage, 1/2 C chopped cilantro. Toss again to mix.
Mariquita Farm does a great job of offering simple recipes to their members. Here is their fennel entry.
