Not to be confused with funnel cakes, fennel is actually a vegetable that boasts a fresh, and aromatic flavor. Sauté it, roast it or add it to your soups and sauces – the choices are endless here.
If you’re not familiar with this underrated vegetable, then you may easily think that it is both funny looking and intimidating. But don’t let it scare you, once you know how to go about using it, it’s easy to work with.
Table of Contents
What Is Fennel?
A layered, bulbous vegetable that comes from the Mediterranean but has been used for centuries. You may think this vegetable is closely related to onions, however it is a member of the carrot family, although it’s not a root vegetable.
At the tip of the stalks, there are light, feathery leaves that resemble dill. It also produces small yellow flowers among the leaves. Surprisingly enough, every part of fennel from the bulb to the flowers are edible, and can be eaten raw or cooked.
Note, there are two varieties of fennel. Florence fennel is the one that we eat and harvest fennel seeds from. The other is fennel called vulgare, that has yellow flowers that are crushed and created into the spice fennel pollen.
Plus, it has all sorts of health benefits too! They are low in in calories, but high in fiber, potassium, and vitamin C.
What Parts Of Fennel Do You Eat?
Every part! But, let’s start at the bottom:
- Fennel roots: tuberous and are best used when you peel and dice them to be used in soups. Best not to eat this part raw!
- Bulb: the bulk of the plant, and has thick layered leaves, with each producing a stalk. Enjoy this part by slicing, dicing, cutting into wedges or peeled into leaves – enjoy this part raw or cooked.
- Stalk: fibrous, and must be cooked to eat it!
- Fennel fronds: these grow out of the stalks and can be used as a garnish in salads or other dishes.
- Flowers: Once harvested and dried, the fennel flowers are packaged as fennel pollen.
When not harvested as pollen, the flowers will produce seeds which are the seeds that you buy in a jar and also see in sweet Italian sausage and finocchio salami.
What Does Fennel Taste Like?
Said to have an anise or licorice flavor that can either be enhanced or sweetened. When left raw, it has a crispy texture, when diced and sauteed with onions, fennel becomes very sweet.
If you’re looking for a more enhanced fennel flavor, crush or chop a teaspoon or two of fennel seeds and add it to the diced fennel to sautee with your vegetables.
How To Use Fennel
Whatever you can use celery, carrots or onions in, you can use fennel in. That means that you can put it in soups, stews, pastas and salads, and can be used on pizzas too.
Some people even make fennel candy and fennel syrup where the stalks are sliced and then cooked in a sugar syrup, then dried.
Fennel also makes a great garnish for just about any dessert that has licorice flavors.
How To Cut Fennel
One of the best things about fennel is that its character changes depending on how you cut it.
When it comes to using fennel, the bulk is what you will utilize the most. Which means, you will need to look for the bulb that is the whitest, the firmest, and has at least three inches of stalk.
To keep these fresh, remove the stalks and fronds from the bulb and wrap separately, and store them on the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days.
- First cut the stalks off the bulb.
- Be sure to remove any dark spots from the outer layer with a peeler or a paring knife.
- Now you can cut it – be sure to cut it as the recipe calls.
How To Cook Fennel
Bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil, blanch the fennel and cook it about 50 % of the way. From there you can place it on the grill to cook the rest of the way. Don’t attempt to cook it directly on the grill or it will dry out and get tough.
Fennel Benefits and Nutrition
It’s a a highly nutritious vegetable, low in calories and has a low glycemic index. Fennel is not only a good source of dietary fiber but also a great source of both potassium and folate, while containing , vitamin C and plant flavonoids such as quercetin.
The benefits? It supports your heart, skin and digestion generally.
FAQ
Is Fennel A Type Of Onion?
Surprisingly, fennel is not related to onions. In fact, fennel is more closely related to carrots. You may even think that their wispy fronds would make them related to dill, but they’re not.
How To Use Fennel Fronds
While the bulbs are used most often in recipes, the tops come in handy too! You can mince the fronds and used them as a garnish for salads, soups, and pasta, you can save the stalks and leaves to use in vegetable broth.
What’s a Good Fennel Substitute?
Celery is a great substitute for fennel, especially when it comes to salads. However, celery can have a bit of a stronger taste, that is nothing in comparison to fennel. So that may leave you a bit disappointed with your dish. If it’s a mild flavor you’re looking for then bok choy is an ideal choice.
Adding extra onion is also a great substitute, and will add in a bit of extra sweetness to your dish.
Easy Fennel Recipes
Roasted Fennel Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 fennel bulb cut into wedges with the fronds removed
- extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by clipping off the stalks, and then slicing the fennel into 1/2-inch wedges
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl,toss the fennel wedges with the mixture and then spread evenly onto the baking sheet.
- Roast for about 25 to 35 minutes or until the wedges are crisp and brown on the outside and tender on the inside.
Leave a Reply