This recipe features a light golden brown roasted fennel with tips and suggestions on how to cut and prep your fennel as well as frond recipe suggestions.
ROASTED FENNEL
I can't tell you how far back we go with fennel, wow. I mentioned when I wrote the recipe on 1 Ingredient Balsamic Glaze how long we've been coming up with ways to use balsamic and how to hide the balsamic vinegar from our daughter. When she was little it was like candy for her and neither are good in excess so we were trying all sorts of things.
The same with fennel. My family has loved fennel so much and definitely much to my surprise! I mean I love veggies and for that reason I might have more vegetable recipes on my blog and on my Instagram than I do meat recipes.
Fennel is not something I grew up with but it's definitely been what my children have grown up with because my husband is very laid back with what I want to do in the kitchen until it's something he likes and fennel is one of those likes so they will fight each other for that fennel bulb????
BENEFITS
- very good for your nervous system because they have loads of potassium
- I read somewhere that fennel wards off appetite?
- I know that it's a good digestive for the stomach that I learnt from my mother in law
- controls blood pressure
- water retention (the same as cucumber)
- fennel fronds as they are known (but to me they will forever be called fennel leaves) these leaves are known to have something called phytochemicals which are active compounds found in plants. See the fronds are as important as the bulbs!
When I made this divine fennel chicken roast I was going purely with the idea of herbs in the chicken as stuffing and remembering how much my mother in law used all of the fennel and especially the leaves in cooking. If you have not seen the recipe yet take a look at it its a wonderful homemade fennel chicken roast or if you like you can watch the video on my channel.
CUTTING FENNEL
Whenever I use fennel I cut off all the parts and keep them separately because I use them for other recipes. The only part that I don't use is the little tops that I slice off from the bulbs.
Stems
The long green stem is always discarded but we never throw them out. They are beautiful! My family loves salad and just about any greens so we put them in a jar and use them as stick dips. They are crunchy and go wonderfully with any dip. I love opening the fridge and seeing them in a jar it sparks off a string of creativity. I chop them up and add them into a veggie dish or a soup dish because they are a vegetable like any other!? Low to no calories on these snacks - really of no relevance to me at all 🙂 but you might be interested to know that.
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WHAT TO DO WITH THE FRONDS
Fennel Fronds
What are fronds? Let's not do this again 🙂 You can call them fennel leaves like me.
Fronds are the fluffy strands that you see all over the stem. Use them as a herb!
A few ways to use fennel fronds: I love them in salads but just make sure to cut them nice and fine so you don't have those grassy strands in your salad.
- as a herb in this tender herb salad
- as a stuffing in roast chicken
- as a substitute in this cucumber salad
- as garnish on anything you like really, from breakfast eggs to quinoa and scramble, anything.
- use the fronds as herb like you would any other herb ie. herb & garlic butter?
OTHER USES OF FENNEL STEMS AND FRONDS
- Soups
- Stews
- Salads
- Broths
- Roasted
- Steamed or boiled
- Mashed
HOW TO COOK FENNEL
You can cook fennel like most veggies, roasted, baked, seasoned, also par boiled or boiled (maybe not so much boiling unless you have them in a pot for stock).
In this citrus salad I used just 1 fennel bulb and had no time to light the oven for a single fennel so I rinsed it, sliced it, seasoned it well and gave it a good skillet sear. It was so good I could eat them just like that!
HOW THIS FENNEL WAS ROASTED
The most basic ingredients!
- oil
- salt
- spice
Or if you prefer, oil, salt & pepper. I prefer a little bit of a kick of spice so I used this combination that is amazing on any and all veggies!
MORE RECIPES
- Roasted Sticky Chicken and Veggies
- Kale Hummus, Creamy and Delicious
- Beetroot Hummus
- Creamy Sesame Hummus Recipe
- Easy 3 Step Basil, Baby Spinach & Parsley Pesto
- How To Make A Classic Basil Pesto
- Homemade Salad Dressing
- Quick and Easy Chickpea Hummus Recipe
- Best Simple Tossed Citrus Salad and Salad Dressing
- Hummus and Avocado Recipes
- Roast Chicken and Vegetable Roast, Juicy Tender and Delicious
Roasted Fennel
Ingredients
- 2 fennel bulbs remove the stems and slice the bulb
- 3 tablespoons olive oil , extra virgin
- salt & pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon spice with a lift if using any
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 C.
- Clean the fennel by cutting off the root, the fluffy leaves (fronds) leaving you with just the bulb.
- Rinse the bulb clean and thinly slice it in preparation for cooking. How thick or thin you slice it will depend on how long it takes to cook. Don't cut it very thing or it cooks too quickly and may burn.
- In in oven tray, drizzle some extra olive oil directly onto the sheet pan/oven tray.
- Slide one fennel slice with your finger to coast the whole pan or you can use a brush.
- Lay the fennel slices and the fennel slices down after seasoning. Season the top the same way, add another little drizzle of olive oil.
- Bake at 200 for about 25 to 30 minutes. Halfway through take them out and check. If they are dry add a another drizzle oil. That should do it. Return to finish the baking time or until as brown as you want them.
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