Fennel and orange salad

It's a coincidence that I made this fennel and orange salad from the Everyday Food cookbook on the night when I watched the latest episode of Top Chef. The winning dish on Top Chef included the same ingredients of fennel, oranges and olives. One of the judges remarked that this is a classic and delicious flavor combination, and I tend to agree.

This salad is really simple and makes for a unique and refreshing side dish. I shaved my fennel into thin slices using a mandoline, and tossed it with orange supremes, halved nicoise olives and parsley leaves. The dressing is simply orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I think the nicoise olives worked really well in this dish, but you could use kalamata olives instead. If you wanted to dress this up for a special occasion, I think a combination of navel and blood oranges would be really attractive.

Kabocha squash and fennel soup with candied pumpkin seeds

I received Sunday Suppers at Lucques as a holiday present, and this is the first recipe I've made from the book. Kabocha squash and fennel are caramelized in the oven and pureed with toasted ground fennel seeds, onions, fresh thyme, butter, chile de arbol and chicken stock to make a thick soup. This soup has a complex flavor from the sweetness of the squash, earthiness of the fennel and heat of the chile. The recipe says to serve the soup topped with creme fraiche, but I used the sour cream that I already had on hand.


The candied pumpkin seeds are amazing - the seeds are lightly toasted in butter and coated with sugar, paprika, toasted cumin, cayenne, kosher salt and a touch of honey. They have a great balance of sugar, salt and spice.


This is a fun twist on your standard winter squash soup, it will definitely be going into the regular rotation. I am also planning to try the pumpkin seed coating on some walnuts or pecans.

Roasted romanesco and fennel

I tore this recipe out of Bon Appetit a few months ago because I was intrigued by the color and texture of romanesco. I had never had it before, and since then I've kept an eye out at my local grocery store and farmer's market. I found romanesco last week at the Berkeley Bowl, and put this recipe to the test. It came out really well, the fennel and romanesco got nicely browned and crispy. Romanesco looks like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower, and that's exactly how it tastes too. I'll definitely be buying it again when it pops up in the store.

Fennel and blood orange salad

My friend Kristine and I came up with this salad. We cut some baby fennel bulbs into very thin slices and tossed them with equal parts of blood orange juice and walnut oil. We seasoned the fennel with salt and pepper and topped it with blood orange segments, fennel fronds and toasted walnuts. It was very colorful and a fun way to eat fennel.

Barefoot Contessa Parties - Roast loin of pork with fennel

This recipe is from Barefoot Contessa Parties

This is a great one dish meal. Carrots, potatoes, onions and fennel are cooked along with the mustard crusted pork loin. I used both red and white potatoes. I recommend a meat thermometer to make sure the pork is cooked perfectly at 138 degrees.

Roast loin of pork with fennel

Giada's family dinners - roasted fennel with parmesan

This week I'm featuring food from Giada's Family Dinners

This is a really good vegetable dish. The roasting process mellows the anise flavor of the fennel, and the parmesan cheese forms a crispy crust. I used less olive oil than the recipe called for, about 2 teaspoons.

Roasted fennel with parmesan

Make sure you cut your fennel slices on the thin side. If it's any thicker than what's called for in the recipe, it won't be fully cooked in the time the recipe specifies.