Fennel was on sale at the grocery store last week. I picked up a bulb, with all of its unruly fronds intact, and headed up to the front.
“What do you use that for,” asked the guy at the checkout counter. “I see people buy it sometimes, but have no idea how I’d use it.”
This isn’t the first time my produce choices have been scrutinized. And, frankly, I don’t blame the people who pepper me with questions for doing so.
I do the same thing when I go to an ethnic grocery store or when I travel and see foods I’ve never encountered before:
- What is this?
- What does it taste like?
- How do you use it?
When I lived in Atlanta, there was an indoor farmer’s market that was an adventurous produce-lover’s dream. They had several loooong aisles of produce – jackfruit, durian, dragon fruit, bitter melon, and all-variety of exotic beans, squash, root vegetables, cabbages and greens… I asked my questions a lot!
But, back to the fennel…What is it?
Fennel is a bulbous vegetable related to parsley, carrots, dill and coriander that has tall stalks and wispy fronds that look like those on its cousin dill. Eating a cup of fennel will give you almost 20% of your recommend daily vitamin C and 10% of your daily fiber and potassium.
No dim bulbs allowed… What does it taste like?
The fennel plant is anything but dim in flavor. Its bright, fresh flavor will play on your tongue and complement rich foods like pork in wonderful ways. In fact, cooking it with a pork roast is how I got hooked on fennel last year.
Fennel tastes slightly of anise, the flavor you find in black licorice, and is often labeled as anise at the grocery store. But, anise it is not. Fennel is crunchy, with the texture of celery, and slightly – but not overwhelmingly – sweet. You’ll get the best flavor, the sooner you eat it. Try to use it within a day or two of buying it.
How do you use fennel?
The entire plant is edible, and can be used in a number of ways.
- Use fronds and stalks in salads
- Use fronds to garnish soup or blend into a puree
- Slice the bulb and use it fresh on salads or cut it into ½ inch rounds and sautee it
- Quarter and roast the bulb with meat or other root vegetables
- Puree and use the bulb to stuff or coat pork
- It also tastes delicious in soup, like in the tomato soup dish below.
For an example of how to clean and cut the fennel bulb, see this brief tutorial from eMeals.com.
Roasting and Making the Soup (Click to Enlarge)
Tomato and Roasted Fennel Soup
Notes
To make this more of a meal, add small, wild shrimp. Devein them and remove their tails if that hasn’t been done yet. Rinse them and then add them to the soup at the same time as you add the second can of tomatoes to allow them to cook through.
Ingredients
- 1 bulb fennel, fresh or roasted (fronds and stalks removed)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 14.5 oz cans of chopped tomatoes
- 2 fresh tomatoes, quartered
- 1½ cups vegetable broth (preferably home-made)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat a sauté pan to medium heat.
- Saute onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent.
- To a blender or food processor, add onions and garlic, fennel, and then 1 can of chopped tomatoes, 2 fresh tomatoes and broth. Puree.
- Pour puree into a soup pot and cook on high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
- Using a fine-gauge strainer or colander, strain the soup into a large mixing bowl to remove all fennel fibers. Use the back of a spoon to push the fibers against the strainer and squeeze out all of the liquid.
- Pour the soup back into the soup pot. Add the contents of the second can of chopped tomatoes. (*See notes for adding shrimp)
- Season to taste. Garnish with fresh fennel frond and serve.