November New Foods #2 - Fennel

Hey, guess what? Fennel is yummy! Yeah, lots of you already knew that. I got so many great ideas from here and the PPK forums on what to do with fennel. I ended up sort of making my own dish about a week ago. And wow! I'm totally going to keep adding fennel to things now. The flavor is light, but fresh and adds some delicious savory notes to meals.

For the first time using fennel in something, I sure hit a homerun, too. If you never make anything that I blog about, you might want to try this. I think this is surely one of the best things I've created in a very long time. I only wish I had made more of it. If you can't find the tofurky sausage, or don't want to add that sort of thing, you can replace it with some spicy seitan or marinated tofu. If you leave it out entirely, I suggest you add a pinch or so of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to give it a bit of a kick. Not too much, you don't want this to be spicy, just a little bit warm. Also, don't feel like you have to use hazelnut oil, you can use olive oil, but if you have it or want to try it, it really added a huge amount of flavor.

These veggies are about to turn into yumminess!

Sauteed Fennel Awesomeness

3 Tablespoons hazelnut oil
1 shallot, diced
2 Tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped
3/4 Cup white wine (or vegetable broth)
1 bunch greens (I used red chard)
2 tofurky kielbasa sausages, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (I just used the entire bunch, I think it was a little more than 1 cup)

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the shallot in 2 Tablespoons of hazelnut oil for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the sage and fennel and stir to make sure everything gets a bit of the oil on it. Saute for another 5 minutes or so. Don't let anything burn, you just want the fennel to start to barely start to brown.

Add the wine and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the wine has reduced to just a couple tablespoons. Add the greens and saute until wilty.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, saute the sliced tofurky kielbasa in the other tablespoon of hazelnut oil. You want the sausage to get fairly browned on both sides. Add the sausage and tomatoes to the pot with the fennel and cook for about 3 more minutes, stirring often.

This makes 2 main course servings or 4 side dish servings.