Fennel, Red Pepper and Purple Carrot Salad

Photo by Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

JP tells me that the final main season share from Glade Road Growing for 2017 will include about a pound of purple carrots, a fennel bulb a red sweet pepper and an onion.  This combined with some potatoes and garlic would make a great pureed soup, but it would not take advantage of the visual of the purple carrots, so I decided on a salad instead. Mine includes lentils, so that it will make a whole meal.

The first of the purple carrots were available at the farm stand this past Friday.  They were purple on the outside with an orange core (go Hokies, eh?), so I suggest shaving them lengthwise into ribbons with a vegetable peeler.

The photo above doesn't include the carrots (or the lentils), so let me give you an idea of what the carrot ribbons will look like in this photo by Marie (no last name given) of the blog Proud Italian Cook:

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Serves 4


Ingredients:

Salad

2/3 cups of lentils, cooked and cooled
1  trimmed fennel bulb, quartered and cut into very thin crosswise slices (reserve the stems and leaves to puree in smoothies)
1 red sweet pepper, seeded and cut in thin 2-inch slices
1 tablespoon minced onion
4 purple carrots trimmed and shaved lengthwise into ribbons
2 ounces of shaved Parmesan or Asiago, shaved into ribbons


Dressing

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 small garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and finely chopped
2 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoon miso

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin


Directions:

1.  To cook lentils, cover with 1 1/3 cups of water and bring to a boil and simmer for five minutes.  Rinse until water runs clear.  Add water to original level, add a bay leaf and return to a boil and then simmer until soft and water is absorbed.  Remove bayleaf, drain if necessary and chill in the refrigerator.

2.  While lentils are cooking, prep veggies and combine in a large bowl. When lentils are cool, add them and cheese and toss together. 

3.  Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl.  Toss with the salad and serve.

Fennel, Radish and Strawberry Salad with Sumac

Photo by Yuki Sugiura  for The Guardian.


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JP tells me the June 13, 2017 farm share for Glade Road Growing will include fennel, baby greens, summer squash, cilantro, beets with greens, and red radishes.

The Guardian had this lovely picture by London based photographer Yuki Sugiura of a salad with fennel and radishes with pomegranate seeds.  Given the season and what's available locally, might I suggest strawberries instead?  I've seasoned this salad with ground sumac, often added to Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking to add tartness.  While the staff at Eats told me that they don't stock sumac in their bulk spices, they suggest you might try Oasis.  You can also harvest sumac here in the fall.  (Poison sumac has white berries, but for more identification, see this post from the Ashville, NC foraging company, No Taste Like Home.)

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Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 tbsp lime juice
1 fennel bulb, about half a pound trimmed
1/2 pound of red radishes, trimmed
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups of strawberries, trimmed and halved
1 tsp sumac (optional, if you can't find it)
Sea salt

Directions:

1.  Wash the fennel and trim the root end off the bulb and discard.  Trim off the stems and fronds and cut the bulb into quarters  and slice thinly.  Place in a bowl of cold water with 1 tablespoon of the lime juice to keep from discoloring.  Reserve stems and fronds for another purpose.  (I like to coarsely chop and steam the stems and puree them like I would celery in soups.  I like to puree the fronds with nuts, olive oil and Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese to make a pesto.)

2.  Wash the radishes and trim off the roots and discard. Trim off the leaves, if any and finely slice the radishes.  If there are leaves, you can use reserve them for another use.  (I like to chop and saute them, as I would turnip greens.  They also add a peppery taste to salads.)

3.  Wash the strawberries, drain immediately.  Trim off the top stem and leaves.  Cut in halves, or quarters, if large.

3.  To make dressing, whisk the oil and remaining lime juice together.

4.  Drain the fennel and toss gently with the radishes and strawberries. Drizzle over the dressing and serve on individual plates, dusted with sumac and a little salt.  Serve immediately.

Fennel-Apple-Winter Squash Tart

Photo by McKel Hill for her blog Nutrition Stripped



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This week's farm share is slated to include fennel and I thought I'd do a recipe for a tart to celebrate.  With it being apple and winter squash season, why not combine all three? My recipe uses delicata squash and an onion, while butternut squash is pictured.  You could even use sweet potatoes instead.


This tart features a gluten and soy free vegan crust. If you'd prefer a conventional butter crust, see my recipe here.  I also have a recipe for a crust that includes corn meal and cheese here.  You can make the rice and the quinoa flours called for in this recipe by chilling the grains and then running them through a blender.

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Serves 6 - 8

Crust:

½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup quinoa flour
¼ cup cornstarch
8 tablespoons coconut oil, chilled
6 tablespoons ice water
¼ teaspoon sea salt

Filling:

1 delicata squash, unpeeled and halved, (or 1 half large butternut, peeled and quartered), seeds and strings removed and then sliced thin. 
1 large Granny Smith apple, quartered, cored and sliced thin
1 fennel bulb, end trimmed, sliced thinly (reserve the greens and stems for another purpose)
1 large onion, peeled, end trimmed, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried sage or 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves chopped
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary or 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, whole leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  To make the crust, combine all the rice and quinoa flours and corn starch in a large mixing bowl.  Start making small balls or chunks of the chilled coconut oil that you'll be working this into the flour and gradually adding in the ice cold water 1 tablespoon at a time. At this point, the dough will look very crumbly. Work your hands into the dough bringing it together- use a pastry scraper to help get the dough off the the sides of the bowl. Spread the dough out in a well-greased cast iron skillet, making sure that the dough comes all the way up to the top of the sides so that you will have the option to fold it over..  Chill for 5-10 minutes in the refrigerator.  If you don't have a large skillet, you can roll the dough out on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet instead.

3.  To make the filling,  combine in the sliced squash, apples, onions and fennel in a large mixing bowl. Add olive oil and seasoning and gently toss.  Arrange in layers until the entire crust is full. When the crust is warm enough to work, gently fold the edges on top of the sliced filling. Drizzle entire tart with additional olive oil and sea salt.

4.  Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees F or until crust is golden brown.

5.  If you'd like you can serve each slice with a dollop of  Greek yogurt, a crumble of goat or feta cheese, soy sour cream or McKel Hill suggests cashew spread ( I prefer Molly Patrick's recipe because it avoids the brewer's yeast, but you may want to spice it up with fresh garlic and Dijon mustard.)  In addition, or instead, you can also used a few of the fennel fronds torn apart for a garnish.

Grilled Eggplant and Fennel

Photo from Gibbet Hill Farm

Sally tells me that tomorrow's farm share from Glade Road Growing is slated to include fennel, eggplant, sweet pepper, garlic, beets and tomatoes.  Continuing with the hot weather recipes, here's one for grilled eggplant and fennel.




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Serves 4


1 large eggplant or 2 small eggplants cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1 fennel bulb, stalks and fronds away and reserve for another use, with core trimmed until there is
      just enough to hold the fennel together, cut into quarters.   Slice one of the more tender stalks on a       slant and chop up a few fronds for garnish in this recipe.
2 tomatoes, cut into eights

Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 dash paprika
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

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1.  Prep vegetables.

2.  Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl.  Add eggplant and fennel and toss until covered.

3.  Grill eggplant and fennel on medium grill 5 - 8 minutes per side.  Fennel should retain some crispness.  Eggplant should be tender.  If you don't have a grill, you can roast the veggies in the oven on a parchment paper covered baking sheet at 450 degrees F.  It will probably take 10 minutes on each side.

4.  Drizzle with some more balsamic vinegar and serve warm on separate plates, garnished with tomato wedges and a few fennel fronds. If you would like for this to be a meal, rather than a side, you can combine with 2 cups of cooked beans or or 2 cups of cooked chicken or 1/4 pound of  feta cheese and 4 tablespoons of pine nuts, walnuts or peanuts.

Fennel and Lemon Salad

Photo from Bistrot Cenisio 10, Milan, Italy

1 fennel bulb, sliced thin (use a mandoline, if you have one).
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped; can also chop 1/2 cups of fennel fronds, if they are included with the bulb and reserve the rest for another use.

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and cilantro (and fennel fronds, if available) in a salad bowl until blended. Add the sliced fennel and toss until coated. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.

If you'd like you can also include 1 cup of fresh blueberries and top some shaved goat cheese or crumbled feta.

Navy Beans and Tatsoi with Roasted Fennel

Photo by Johnny Autry of Ashville accompanied a recipe similar to mine at Cooking Light.

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 The October 27 farm share from Glade Road Growing is slated to include salad mix, fennel, butternut squash, tatsoi and green peppers. 

Fennel is a  perennial bulb with a feathery top, a relative of the carrot.  You can use the fronds in salads or as a garnish. 

The bulb and younger stems are firm and crunchy and taste mildly of anise. You can serve them raw and thinly sliced in salads and slaws.  I especially like raw fennel in combination with tart fruits such peaches and tomatoes, granny smith apples or oranges.  You can also cook the bulb until tender to  bring out the anise flavor, either as part of a roasted squash or  root vegetable medley or braised with chicken. 

Fennel seeds (not included this week) are used to flavor stews, breads and cookies.



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Serves 8

1.  The night or at least a couple of hours before you plan to eat, bring one pound of dried  navy beans (about 2 cups) to a boil in a lidded heavy- bottomed saucepan with four cups of cold water.  Simmer five minutes. Rinse, cover again with water plus two cups, add a couple of bay leaves and bring back to boil. Turn off the stove and soak at least an hour or overnight. Rinse well and drain. Cover with colder water plus an inch and start to simmer. (Add water as necessary to keep the beans barely covered).  When the beans are tender, rinse, drain and set aside.  (You can cook the beans ahead of time and refrigerate in a lidded jar.)

2.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (or you can use a counter top convection oven to roast the fennel.  Wash fennel and tatsoi  in cold water and rinse and wash a second time.  Trim fronds and stems of the fennel and reserve for another use. Thinly slice the bulb.  If the stems of the tatsoi are tough, tear the leaves off and reserve the stems for a vegetable stock.   Smash, peel and mince two or more cloves of fresh garlic. Peel and thinly slice one onion.

3.  Combine fennel, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.  red pepper, and garlic in a large bowl; toss to coat fennel. Arrange mixture in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet or on the racks in the convection oven.

4.  Roast for ten minutes or more until brown.

5.  Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat with  with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Add the onions and saute until tender and then add the  beans and cook together another 2 minutes.  Add fennel mixture and the tatsoi and cook until the tatsoi is wilted.

6.  Serve warm.  I like this recipe over cooked whole wheat pasta or rice and sprinkled with grated Asiago cheese.

Fennel and Cucumber Salad

Photo by Helene Dujardin accompanied her recipe for a fennel, cucumber, scallion and mint salad.  I first published this entry on 7/6/15 at 5:24 p.m. and updated on 7/7/15 at 9:45 p.m. to include a picture of the farm share, which can be found at the bottom of the post.

Since the expected Glade Road Growing farm share for week of July 7 includes fennel, cucumbers, sweet onions, carrots, and rainbow chard, I used the above photo as an inspiration and substituted the sweet onions for the scallions and also fennel fronds for the mint.

You could also make a delicious pasta primavera by chopping and sauteing any of the following and serving over cooked pasta, finished with some grated Parmesan cheese: fennel bulb, onions, carrots and chard.




Serves 4

1.  Wash the fennel,  cucumber and the onion in cool water.

2.  Peel the onion, cut in half and thinly chop to to make a quarter to a half a cup.  If you would rather use scallions, as pictured, cut 4 of them lengthwise, keeping all of the white parts and most of the green. Place in a bowl of ice water to curl, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3.  To prepare the fennel, trim the stems and fronds close to where they connect to the bulb.  Chop some of the fronds to make 1/2 cup and reserve the remaining to use as an herb in salads or with pasta.  You can also use the stems in stews.

Trim the root end from the bulb to make a flat surface, for the bulb to stand on then cut straight down through the root of the fennel bulb in halves and again into quarters.  Peel off any wilted or rubbery outer layers and discard.  With the quarter on its side, thinly slice crosswise.

4.  With the skin on thinly slice the cucumber into disks.

5.  When ready to plate, layer the cucumber and fennel slices, top with the onions and fennel fronds. To make this salad hardier you could also add steamed string beans and new potatoes. If you would like this to be a main course, top each plate with 1 ounces of crumbed blue cheese and 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas.  You could also serve it over a bed of cooked, chilled quinoa.

Here's another recipe for fennel:
Gingered Fennel Peach Tomato and Red Onion Salad

The fennel, onions and carrots are also delicious roasted with a Freedom Ranger Chicken.

UPDATE:  Here's the actual farm share (small version) photographed by my neighbor, Blacksburg Town Councilman Michael Sutphin (twitter).  Notice the addition of Thai basil.

In the newsletter, Sally Walker, half of Glade Road Growing's proprietors, writes:

Thai basil is a type of basil that is slightly spicy and also is somewhat licorice-flavored. Try a few leaves chopped into a cold noodle salad with sesame oil. If you do nothing else, just put it in a vase of water on your counter and smell it periodically. If you have a pollinator garden, this would be a nice addition because it has beautiful purple flowers that honeybees love.

Tsimmes

Photo is a screenshot from this video on the Food Network.



The November 11 farmshare from Glade Road Growing is slated to include  sweet potatoes, roasting radish, rutabaga, turnips, fennel, and napa cabbage.  Sally asked for something for folks who don't much like turnips.

I'm guessing some find the taste too sharp when they're raw; roasting will make them taste milder.  You can make them milder yet, if you cook them with veggies with more natural sugar, such as this week's sweet potatoes and/or carrots, onions and beets.  You can even add a bit of honey or sugar and/or dried fruit.

All this brings me to a recipe from the Jewish tradition, tsimmes, which is a sweetened combination of vegetables (or of meat and vegetables), which has been stewed, roasted  or baked.  Joan Nathan has a bunch of great recipes, which inspired mine for this week.

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Serves 8

1.  Wash and halve, a sweet potato, roasting radish and  rutabaga.  Wash, and trim turnips and fennel of root end and any greens.  (Reserve the greens for another use.)

2.   Peel and halve 2 onions.  I also like to use 2 tart apples, 4 carrots,  and one beet.

3.  Roast (cut side up, if applicable) for half an hour at 450 degrees F in convection oven or or wrapped in aluminum foil on a cookie sheet in a conventional oven.

4.  Cool enough to handle and remove skin from sweet potatoes, radish, rutabaga and turnips.  Chop all the veggies and apples into large pieces.  Boil 2 cups of water with 2 TB honey or demerara sugar.  Add roasted veggies and apples and return to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Stir in 2 TB of orange juice concentrate and 1 TB of butter or extra virgin olive oil  and cook until softened and the flavors combine.

5.  Serve warm, topped with toasted walnuts.

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Or if you like turnips just fine raw, you can make a nice shaved salad of the turnips, fennel, radish, carrots and nappa cabbage.

Spiced Roasted Winter Squash and Fennel

Photo by Lisa Hubbard for the October 2004 Bon Appetit

The October 28 farm share for Glade Road Growing is slated to include butternut squash, spinach, arugula, green peppers and fennel.

The following recipe can be served as a side with chicken  or turned into a main dish by the addition of  2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans.  It can be served on a bed of cooked rice or chilled and served on a bed of mixed greens such as the spinach and arugula.

Fennel is also delicious raw sliced thinly in a salad, such as this one from the summer, but substituting fall fruits such as pears and apples for the peaches and tomatoes

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Serves 4


1.  Prepare veggies for roasting by cutting butternut squash in half lengthwise and brushing the  cut edge with extra virgin olive oil. Trim one fennel bulb, cut in half lengthwise and brush the cut edge ith extra virgin olive oil.  Peel one large onion and trim root end, but leave connected and cut lengthwise in half and brush with extra virgin olive oil. Smash and peel 4 or more cloves of fresh garlic.

 2.  Roast squash, fennel, onion and garlic in convection on a rack or conventional oven on a baking sheet at 450 degrees F until softened and fragrant about half an hour. Let cool enough to be able to handle. Peel squash and scoop out seeds and cut lengthwise into 3/4 inch-wide wedges.  Cut fennel lengthwise into 1-inch-wide wedges.  Cut onion into 1/2 inch wedges.

3. Combine squash, fennel, onion and garlic in bowl.  Add 2 TB extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat.

4.  In a small bowl blend the following spices:

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

5.  Sprinkle spice mixture over veggies and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Continue cooking in cast iron skillet or heavy saucepan on stove until veggies are tender, turning once, about 10 minutes. 

6.  Transfer to a shallow dish and serve.

Gingered Fennel, Peach, Tomato and Red Onion Salad

Photo by Jen Smallwood of Portsmouth, Virginia

The 8/19/ farm share for Glade Road Growing is slated to include:  lettuce mix, parsley, fennel bulb, potatoes, Rosa de Tropea onions, tomatoes, delicata and summer squash.  There are so many ways to combine these ingredients that I hardly knew where to start.  I thought, though, that since my recipes  last year's recipes featured roasted fennel (see below) I'd go with raw fennel while peaches and tomatoes are still in season.

Serves 4 to 6

The first step is to make a fennel frond and ginger pesto:

1.  Squeeze one lemon or lime (2 - 3 TB juice)
2.  Finely chop 1 TB fresh ginger and peel and chop one clove fresh garlic.
3.  Shear the fronds from the fennel bulb and chop roughly to make about 2 cups.
4.  Combine in a blender or food processor with a drizzle of 2 - 3 TB of extra virgin olive oil.  Scrape into a medium to large bowl.

Prepare the salad:

1.  Trim the fennel root and the tender portions of the stalk and slice thinly.
2.  Slice 2 medium peaches in half, remove pit and slice into wedges.
3.  Slice half of the onion into thin rings
4.   Remove the stem core from two tomatoes and cut each into 1/8ths.

Add to bowl and toss lightly. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste.  You can serve this over a bed of the lettuce mix, if you like.  If you'd like for this to be a main course, you can include goat cheese and walnuts or cooked white beans.

You can also chop the salad more finely and serve it as a salsa with black beans and yellow rice.

Here's are a couple of other fennel recipes:
*roasted fennel and white beans
*roasted chicken with fennel

and here's a recipe for the squash and tomatoes, combined with eggplant:
*Moroccan squash and egg plant stew

Roasted Fennel with White Beans

Photo for Epicurious by Australian still life photographer Nigel Cox (website) of Ian Knauer's recipe for Olive Oil Roasted Tomatoes and Fennel with White Beans which appeared in the August 2010 Bon Appétit.

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A fennel bulb should be in the Glade Road Growing farmshare August 20, along with tomatoes, iceberg  lettuce, sweet onions and winterbor (curly) kale.  The above photo is from the farm's facebook page and here's a recipe for you to try...

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Serves 4

Preheat oven to 425°F. 

Trim fennel bulb and cut in half vertically. Cut into 1/2-inch-wide wedges, leaving some core attached to each wedge. Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1/2 cup.

Dice two cups of vine-ripened tomatoes.  If not in season, you can used diced canned tomatoes.

Coarsely chop two cups of onions.

Crush and thinly slice 3 large garlic cloves (about 1 TB)

Chop about 3 TB fresh basil

Heat oil in large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add fennel wedges in single layer; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon  salt. Cook until fennel begins to brown and soften, turning occasionally about 9 or 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, garlic, basil, 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.  Fold in 2 cups of cooked white beans (great northern, navy or white kidney, i.e. cannellini--see a comparison here) and transfer skillet to oven.   If you would rather, this would be good with cooked chicken.  

Bake until fennel is soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Garnish with raw fennel fronds and serve warm or room temperature.  This is also delicious over whole wheat pasta and topped with grated Asiago cheese.

About Ian Knauer and Nigel Cox

I had already made this recipe when I looked for a photograph of something similar, I found the one at the top of the page at Epicurious, one of my favorite food sites on the internet.  If you want to drool, check out Nigel Cox's other food photos at his website.

Ian Knauer (website , twitter) wrote for the estimable Gourmet for ten years until Condé Nast announced in October 2009 that the November issue would be it's last, after a run that started in 1941.

Since then Knauer has been writing for Bon Appétit  and other publications and "re-discovering and revitalizing" his "family’s local food traditions by way of our Pennsylvania farm."  His cookbook The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food came out in 2012 and he tells me his PBS series of the same name is slated for 2014.   Until then, here's a video of Knauer making asparagus slaw from this spring.

BTW, while I'm talking about recipe sites

Here are other some favorites, in addition to Epicurious.com:

*Mollie Katzen, one of the originators of the Moosewood Collective has recipes on her site.  The restaurant which continues to be inspired by her cooking, also has recipes its site.
*Ina Garten, AKA the Barefoot Contessa posts her recipes at her site here (and if you search on her name, there are other collections of her recipes at places such as The Food Network, Oprah and House Beautiful
*Martha Stewart, who now has a site in beta for recipes
*PBS has gathered up many of Julia Child's recipes.  You also search under her name to find many others.
*My favorite Iron Chef back when I was watching it on TV was always Cat Cora
*She's less famous (infamous) than Paula Dean, when it comes to Southern cooking I prefer  Betty Morgan of Chez Bettay