Fennel

fennel

spring

Another schizophrenic vegetable, fennel has those thick fleshy bulbs and fine, fine fronds. I choose to separate them when I get the fennel home. Bulbs get store, unwashed, in the refrigerator and fronds get rinsed, dried and then wrapped in a dish towel to use pretty quickly. The fronds will eventually start to wilt, but they’ll be good for a few days. The bulb can keep for a week or two. If you’re not using the fronds in a salad or as a garnish for your cooked fennel bulb dish, consider making pesto.

(2023) Butter Lettuce, Grape, Fennel, Walnut + Buttermilk Salad

I do have a recipe for a salad, this one from “Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit” by Abra Berens. I love that the only dressing is buttermilk. Could it be more simple? Helps that I love buttermilk! Berens includes fennel, but I’d substitute radishes and green onions if I wanted to stick with what’s in the box. The grapes are just a nice addition to a salad, but you’re right, we’ll never see those in a Georgia produce box.

(2018) Pork Loin Stuffed with Fennel Fronds

My big idea for you this week is what to do with those fennel fronds. In the past I’ve been a little stymied by them – big bunch of fronds, recipes that call for a sprinkle or two. What to do with the rest? Then earlier this year I ran into the idea to turn those fronds into stuffing for a pork roast. Brilliant! The combination of slightly anise-y fennel fronds with garlic and lemon and pork – it’s absolute heaven.

So I cobbled together this recipe from various points of inspiration. And calling it a “recipe” is probably unfair. It’s just a concept. But it’s delicious. You’ll find bunches and bunches of recipes online – some using the fronds, some using the bulbs. Pork and fennel is definitely a thing.

(2018) Beet and Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

I’ve also got a fennel salad recipe from Christi Hansen of Hungry Heart Farm. She and Matthew Bagshaw are farmers who lease space from Mary Rigdon of Decimal Place Farm. But Christi is also a nutritionist who does lots and lots of recipe demos. She gave us this recipe for the AJC back in early winter. And there are still beets available from some local farmers. But that dressing is so good that you might just use your fennel and then cut kale in thin slivers, or add thinly sliced cucumber. It will all work. She was using Meyer lemons from a friend, but any lemon will do.

(2017) Beet and Mint Slaw

Love this recipe from Whole Foods. No need to cook the beets. Their recipe used fennel which of course isn’t in our box this week. You could add sliced radishes (sliced instead of grated like the beets so you can some contrasting textures). Hope you have mint in the garden because it really makes this slaw sing. I think I’ve mentioned before how much I like dried fruit in salads. Substitute golden raisins, chopped dates, dried cranberries or whatever you have on hand. And if you want a little crunch, chop up some pecans or add some sunflower seeds. Great for a Memorial Day picnic.

Tomato Margarita with Fennel Salt

But first, a recipe for those tomatoes. You’ve eaten fresh tomatoes all summer, now start fall with a Tomato Margarita from seriouseats.com. You could do this with your peppers, too. Or combine the peppers and tomatoes. Delish. And so easy.

Shaved Fennel, Celery and Blueberry Salad

These days we are seeing lots of kale or spinach and strawberry salads on restaurant menus. A nice pairing of two seasonal ingredients. But why not extend that sort of thinking into early summer with fennel and blueberries? This is a basic idea you can modify by including whatever vegetables you like. And add some of that beautiful local celery. Just be sure to slice it thinly.

Fennel Gratin

Rinse the fennel and cut it into bite size pieces. You can use all of it up to and including the fronds, if you wish. Arrange the chopped fennel in a baking dish and then cover with cream. Sprinkle with Parmesan and salt and pepper. Cover the dish and bake 1 hour or until fennel Read More…

Summer Vegetable Soup with Dill

Like all these recipes, adapt the herbs to whatever you have on hand and your household prefers. This recipe appeared in Fine Cooking magazine in August 2011.

Roasted Beets, Fennel, and Carrots with Blackberry Vinaigrette

Tyler Williams of Woodfire Grill demonstrated this recipe at Morningside Farmers Market earlier this month. It’s a perfect use of several things in your box (substitute more beets if you don’t have carrots around). Blackberries are in season right this minute and available at most local farmers markets this weekend, so stock up! No faro on hand? Substitute Israeli couscous, orzo or even rice.

Jenn Robbins’ Purple Kohlrabi Slaw

Jenn Robbins of Avalon Catering created this recipe to showcase colorful purple kohlrabi. It’s just as delicious with the more common green variety but it’s perfect for the purple variety which loses its lovely color when it’s cooked.

Slaw wasn’t her only idea for using this vegetable. “I love kohlrabi! It creams beautifully with the greens mixed in, goes great in a potato salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette, we also shave it and mix it into chicken salad, use it in our cold weather glazed/scalloped vegetable dish and I have even seen a peer make kohlrabi kraut,” she said. So now you’ve got lots of other ideas for your kohlrabi.