I hated the taste of licorice as a child. And then there was a long evening involving Jägermeister when I was 18—enough said. I was licorice ruined forever—or so I thought.
In 2014, I spent many days breastfeeding and watching Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network in the middle of the day. De Laurentiis uses fennel in a lot in her cooking—in salads, as a side dish, in main dishes and even in dessert! While dealing with baby blues for a number of reasons (one being missing out on some of the things that I loved to do), this daily De Laurentiis dose made me feel like I was missing out on another thing—this beautiful flavor in my cooking.
So with my baby conked out as she always does when “Giada at Home” finishes, I explored my pantry, which had a surprising abundance of root vegetables. My husband must have collected some from the neighbors again, and as luck would have had it, there was one big fennel bulb in the mix. I thinly sliced the fennel like De Laurentiis did to add to a side of roasted veggies for dinner. By roasting the fennel, it really tamed the licorice flavor. I have to say that the added fennel made my go-to side dish taste more elegant. There was a certain je ne sais quoi going on.
I later discovered that fennel pairs beautifully with seafood, especially scallops, which I finished with lemon-caper vinaigrette. While waiting for my Mother’s Milk tea to boil, I noticed that fennel was its first ingredient. I experimented with making fennel tea by boiling its seeds and sweetening it
with a touch of honey. I’ve even made fennel
scones, which went well with my tea.
There are four things that make fennel such an incredibly healthy food:
1. It contains a shockingly high amount of phytochemicals. These provide protection against health-related illnesses like arterial damage, heart disease and certain types of cancer.
2. It’s loaded with antioxidant protection. Fennel bulb is full of vitamin C, which as you may already know helps protects your body from free radical damage caused by elements like air pollution and viral infections. Vitamin C is also an antimicrobial and helps keep your immune system functioning well.
3. It’s a great source of fiber that not only keeps you regular, but it also helps remove some of those cancer-causing toxins from your colon.
4. It’s also a good source of folate also known as folic acid. For those pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, folic acid is recommended to reduce birth defects and is good for the baby’s brain and spine development. Studies show that many people in the U.S. don’t get enough folic acid. Those with folic acid deficiencies are typically those with digestive problems, kidney or liver disease.
I may have gone a bit overboard on the fennel for about a month, which led to a sabbatical from it, but not nearly as long as before. Now that I’ve added fennel to my syllabus of ingredients, I’m coincidently trying to grow my daughter’s food list by having her give second chances to the foods she rejected as a baby. Sometimes it takes a little convincing from someone to give things a second chance. A special thanks goes to Giada De Laurentiis for nudging me to give fennel a second taste.
