Cooking with Fennel
By NailTech
@NailTech (6874)
United States
March 15, 2012 4:22pm CST
Are you familiar with this vegetable, it is almost like celery but has a very distinctive flavour that to me tastes like licorice (candy) in it's own way. I have used it in salads but I know it can be used other ways too, and today I put it in some salmon salad (as opposed to tuna salad). It tasted pretty good and actually I didn't taste much of it as I chopped it into tiny pieces. I put some in my green salad as well. There is another reason why I eat it, too, it's cause it helps me with my stomach problems. I was having some wierd stomach ailments going on, like pain, etc and it helped relieve some of the cramps I had too. It is supposed to be good for that so immediately thought of buying it and using it the next time I eat salad.
2 people like this
6 responses
@mysdianait (66005)
• Italy
15 Mar 12
You can cook it too.
Try part-boiling it and then covering it with a cheese sauce and finishing it off in the oven 
even grilled it is great. Slice it, from the top to the bottom about half an inch thick, Grease it lightly and then grill
In UK it is not used very much but in Italy it is very popular, grown locally and not expensive.
even grilled it is great. Slice it, from the top to the bottom about half an inch thick, Grease it lightly and then grill
In UK it is not used very much but in Italy it is very popular, grown locally and not expensive.@NailTech (6874)
• United States
15 Mar 12
Yea, I was going to boil it or something and put it in some soup but never got around to it. But the cheese sauce with baking it sounds yummy too. I have got to get the grill out again soon and grill it one of these days, I'm sure I would like it as I like alot of grilled foods, but I just don't eat them (or make them either) that much anymore, for some reason. They do use it alot in Italian dishes and such I have heard that too, it is considered to be most famous in Italy. I just don't have any recipes for the Italian dishes right now handy.
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
15 Mar 12
Mysdianait is English (but lives in Italy). She therefore uses "grill" in the English meaning where, I think, you would say "broil".
In England a grill heats from the top. In America "grill" usually means what we call a "barbecue" (though in restaurants it is sometimes called a "flame grill")
@marguicha (230351)
• Chile
1 Apr 12
I have cooked it and used it as a side dish. Sometimes I like to cook several veggies on a broth that is made from a tough meat that I cook until tender. Then I place a piece of cooked meat and all sorts of cooked veggies on the side. I cook fennel and cabagge in another pot.
@marguicha (230351)
• Chile
4 Apr 12
An herbal tea in an infusion will help you with your cramps. Check it at the web for the right herbs. I know the herbs in my country, but not all places have the same ones. Luck!
@NailTech (6874)
• United States
4 Apr 12
These are like stomach cramps, once in a great while. I have colitis and although it is mostly under control I can still have minor symtoms of it. The fennel I have heard helps with that kind of cramping. I'm staying clear away from tea now as much as I possibly can due to other problems I have with it, thanks for the info though! It may help others but not me. I do have alot of belief in herbs, too. I will check them out.
@3SnuggleBunnies (16374)
• United States
27 Jun 12
I know it looks similar to celery but I have never cooked with it or even eaten it. So I'm no help with finding new ways to use it aside from adding it like you said to salad or soups.
@fannitia (2167)
• Bulgaria
15 Mar 12
Hi, NailTech, I'm glad that you like fennel, I love it very much. You can put it in green salads together with parsley. Fennel goes fine with cucumbers. In my country we mix finely chopped cucumbers with yogurt and fennel, you can add chopped walnuts too. This is a good salad and if you put water it becomes a fresh soup.
I like to make meals with vegetable marrows and fennel is a good spice for them.
And here you can see fennel's health benefits:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=23
Happy cooking!
@mrswhitfield (2044)
• Indonesia
5 Aug 12
I never see and taste fennel before except when it's cooking shows. I will try to put into my cook whenever I can find it in the supermarket. Nice info :)
