About...Fennel!

Fennel is a light, juicy, crunchy,refreshing taste treat. There is a whiff of licorice or anise flavor to it. Both the tender bulb, stalks, and dill like leaves are edible, though the bulb is used the most. Fennel goes quickly served raw as a crunchy addition to salads, or just on a plate with kosher salt (!) or a dip,or a simple dressing of olive oil,lemon juice and salt. To use, trim the stalks and bottom of the bulb,then cut it in half. Lay each half flat and quarter, slice, or chop as you like. It’s also wonderful for clearing the palate between a meal and
dessert.

Store it loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge. Be careful not to let it get too cold. Like lettuce and celery, fennel's high water content makes it prone to freezing in overly cold fridges. Fennel fresh from the farm will keep up to 10 days. When cooked, fennel is tender and sweet. Add it as wedges or slices to sautes, roast it, add it to the pan with other vegetables when roasting a chicken, or slowly cook it in olive oil or butter until tender and gently browning.

Shhh, don’t tell! As children we loved to chew on fresh fennel. The adults would give us the stalks, which we would put them on our noses and “play Pinocchio,” probably because the Italian finocchio sounded a lot like this character’s name.

submitted by Patti Andrews