Fabulous Fennel: Incredible Health Benefits from Dr. Oz's Fennel Tea, Ina Garten's Crusty Fennel Casserole & Raw Fennel Salad

Fennel: a nutrient packed green and white vegetable that looks like a celery crossed with an onion with a fringe of dill-like leaves but tastes like none of the three.

Until now, fennel was completely off my radar, mainly because I didn’t know what it was or what to do with it. (Oh, the multitude of veggies still out there that I walk right past because of their unfamiliarity!) I have since discovered some really beneficial information about fennel and delicious ways to use it in my cooking. Plus, very importantly, that mildly licorice taste goes away when you start slicing it raw and disappears when you cook it! (I’m not a big fan of licorice and now, I am big fan of fennel!)

Fabulous Fennel: Big Health Benefits from Dr. Oz's Fennel Tea, Ina Garten's Crusty Fennel Casserole & Raw Fennel Salad

Natural Fennel

Fun Facts About Fennel

it’s part of the Umbellifereae family and related to parsley, carrots and dill
everything about the plant is edible: bulb, stalks, green leaves and seeds from the flowers
early Greeks and Romans cherished fennel and mythologized about its medicinal and culinary properties
it is widely used in French and Italian dishes and in the Mediterranean Diet
contains a unique combination of phytonutrients including the antioxidants quercetin and rutin
historically, it has been used in women’s health to increase lactation, facilitate birth, promote menstruation
it can help lower your LDL cholesterol
it’s a natural source of estrogen
it has been used to treat backache, low libido, loss of appetite and infantile colic
it is well-known remedy for flatulence, constipation and gastro issues
contains anethole, fenchone and estragole which has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anti-microbial and cancer protective properties
contributes to building and maintaining bone structure and health
found to help lower blood pressure and protect the heart due to its vasodilatory and vasoprotective properties

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A NUTRIENT POWERHOUSE! 1 raw fennel bulb: 73 calories, 0.5 gms of fat, 0 cholesterol, 2.9 gms of protein, 17 gms of carbohydrate and 7 gms of dietary fiber, 27% daily potassium, 5% sodium, 6% Vitamin A, 11% calcium, 46% Vitamin C, 9% iron, 5% Vitamin B6 and 10% magnesium. Also contains phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate, choline, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, vitamin E and vitamin K.

Dr. Oz Recommends Fennel Tea for Constipation, Bloating, Gastrointestinal Upset and much more!

Dr. Oz Recommends Fennel Tea

Dr. Oz has often featured the benefits of fennel on his show and website because of the myriad and incredibly useful properties to improve your health.

If you’re suffering from constipation, (and I am proud to admit that since going vegan that has not been a problem!), brewing some tea from dried fennel seeds may provide a gentle nudge in the right direction. It also has been reported to help flatulence and bloating. In fact, fennel tea has been used to treat IBS—-the volatile oil compounds in fennel seeds assist in regulating the the contractions of the intestines, helping to relieve intestinal cramps and trapped stomach gas.

Fennel Seeds–I use my Magic Bullet to Crush Them

Ingredients:

1-2 teaspoons freshly crushed fennel seeds
1 cup of water

Directions:

1) Boil water.
2) Crush fennel seeds:
By Hand: place the seeds in a plastic bag and lay on a cutting board. Crush the seeds with a heavy rolling pin or mallet.
By Mortar and Pestle: place seeds into the bowl and push pestle down onto seeds back and forth to grind
By Spice Grinder, Magic Bullet or Coffee Grinder
3) Add crushed fennel into a cup of boiling water
4) Steep mixture on stove for 5 -10 minutes. Strain.
Serve and Enjoy!

At the Supermarket: Is It Fennel or Is It Anise?

One easy way to get some of this fabulous fennel into your day is to, first, find it in your market—it may be masquerading as anise, which is apparently a different plant that is used mostly for its seeds but has a similar flavor. In America, markets seem to label fennel as anise sometimes (which is technically incorrect), but if you see the bulb at the bottom of the plant, then you’ve got fennel!

Crusty Fennel Casserole- VEGAN!

Ina Garten’s Wonderful Fennel Recipe: Veganized!

A wonderful chef, Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa, created a fabulous recipe for fennel called “Parmesan Fennel Gratin” and which I easily and successfully veganized. I endeavored to make this simple dish as a side dish for dinner and it was gobbled up!

Crispy-Topped Fennel Casserole

by Ellen Francis, inspired by Ina Garten. the Barefoot Contessa

Fennel Bulbs

Ingredients:

4 medium fennel bulbs
3/4 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons Earth’s Balance vegan spread
4 tablespoons Earth’s Balance vegan spread, melted
1 cup panko or bread crumbs
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup Daiya vegan shredded mozzarella cheese
Cutting Out the Core
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Remove the stalks from each fennel bulb and set aside. (It can be used for something else!) Trim the thin but tough layer off the hard bottom, discard.
Cut the bulbs in half lengthwise through the core. Remove that white oval-shaped part of the core by cutting a V-shaped wedge, leaving the bulb pretty much intact. If the bulb layers separate, it’s ok.
Cut each bulb into 4 pieces, depending on the size of the bulb.
Arrange the pieces, cut side up, in a gratin dish just large enough to hold them snugly in a single layer.
Cooking Dish
Pour the vegetable stock and wine over the fennel, then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt and 3/4 teaspoon of pepper.
Dot with parts of the 3 tablespoons Earth’s Balance vegan spread
Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes—check to see if the fennel is tender.
Remove from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
Meanwhile, to make the topping: In a medium mixing bowl, combine the 4 tablespoons of melted Earth Balance vegan spread, the panko or bread crumbs, the nutritional yeast, the shredded vegan mozzarella cheese, parsley, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Sprinkle evenly on top and return to oven.
Bake uncovered for 15 minutes and watch the topping brown. Be careful not to let it burn.
Serve hot or warm.

Note: If you don’t love vegan cheese, you can eliminate the Daiya shredded mozzarella in the topping. Add some more melted Earth’s Balance to the topping mix and keep a close watch on it as it browns in the oven.

A Slice of Fennel Casserole

Raw Fennel Sliced Thin For Salads

As a raw vegetable, fennel is wonderful to garnish salads with. Remove the green on top and slice the bulb very thinly. It provides a fantastic crunch and so many nutrients!