Fennel bulbs are pungent and sweet like onions, yet reminiscent of licorice. The subtle licorice flavor is where this veggie gets controversial. You either love it or leave it! Fortunately in the CSA crowd of adventurous eaters most people easily learn to love this veggie!

Fennel bulb is pretty cool because it is treated both as an herb and vegetable. The frilly fronds that top fennel bulbs can be used as an herb to sprinkle on salads, garnish meals, or make dressings. I once heavily sprinkled fennel fronds over the top cheese layer of lasagna and they sizzled up with the cheese to perfection! You can use the stocks of fennel as a substitute for celery in stocks and soup!

You’ll only find fennel in the spring/ early summer and Fall at Growing Lots because it loves cool temperatures. In the spring it goes well shaved into salads with other CSA veggies. You can braise or grill it on it’s own with just a little salt, pepper and parmesan. It also makes great with other roasted spring veggies, or cooked up with a carrot soup puree. I’m really excited about trying the fennel mint spring broth with salmon soup recipe I’ve included below!

When Fennel appears in the fall you can use it as you would an onion in lots of pasta sauces and lasagnas! It also goes extremely well with fall root veggie roasts!

Pro Tip: There’s a lot of simple fennel recipes, but if you google fennel you will come up with a lot of gourmet seafood recipes. Growing Lots is located just a block from Costal Sea Foods which is one of the best places to access seafood in the Twin Cities! One of our lots is right next door to their store front and they are incredible neighbors who support us by letting us have access to their water free of charge!

Salad

Wilted Rainbow Chard and Shaved Fennel Salad

Radish Fennel and Parmesan Salad

Mushrooms Fennel and Blue Cheese Salad

Pastas

Lemony Kale Fennel Pasta

Olives and Fennel Pasta

Angle Hair Pasta with Fennel and Spicy Tomatoes

Sausage and Fresh Fennel Lasagna

Roasted/ Braised/ Grilled

Roasted Carrots and Fennel

Braised Fennel With Parmesan and Breadcrumbs