Wild Fennel!

Just before I left for a trip back to the Midwest near the beginning of May, I discovered wild fennel growing near my apartment. How could I resist digging this up (once I got back)? Free fennel? Yes please.

Last summer, my friend Rachael and I ate fennel a lot. We sauteed it with orange juice and onions. We created thin slices for salad -- I don't remember what else we did. I was pretty happy to eat it raw (and this despite me not liking the taste of licorice, go figure).

Fennel among Ivy

Mostly, with the case of this fennel, I'm excited for the opportunity to "forage" someone's forgotten fennel. It's growing up in a narrow strip of dirt, mostly overtaken by some sort of ivy, in my alley, and near where the garbage cans (in theory -- I've never actually seen them there) are stored to protect them from deer. Fennel's pretty easy to recognize because of its lacy top, and the distinctive flavor of its greens (and bulb, once you've got it out of the ground).

Some fun facts about this plant that perhaps you already knew:

• Fennel is a primary ingredient in absinthe
• Prometheus used fennel stalks to steal fire from the gods (yes, I'm calling this a fact)
• It may help improve vision

In other words, cook your carrots & fennel together, or toss back a handful of dried fennel seeds as a breath freshener--and eyesight improver!

With this fennel, I opted for chopping it into a salad (or, rather, several salads -- this recipe will provide the ingredient quantities for 1 salad, but I had leftover fennel):

Fennel & Apple Salads with Raisins
1/4 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1 medium apple, cored and chopped
1 tablespoon raisins
1/4 cup plain yogurt (more or less, to taste)

Mix all ingredients together and let marinate for 10-15 minutes so flavors will mingle. Eat outside.

Green Smoothie - Spinach-Mint

It's summertime (well, in just under a month) and I've been craving the fresh fruits and veggies that come with summer for quite a while now. Fortunately, my farmers market is already up and running and the local produce is coming in at the co-op and my favorite grocery store.

But beginning during the winter, when E and I were swimming several nights a week, I started making green smoothies. They were the perfect end to a workout, especially since we got home late and I didn't really want to eat dinner beforehand. The nice thing about green smoothies like the the one here is that some greens really start coming in over fall & winter -- and if you're on top of your game, you can get these greens fresh, cook them up and then freeze them in little smoothie-portioned chunks. If you're not on top of your game (and I wasn't this year, since I moved), you can also just buy frozen greens. Or, if you've got a better blender than mine, use fresh greens.

The mint extract in this smoothie helps tone down any bitter qualities of the greens, and the banana makes it smooth. Normally, as regular readers of my posts know, I'm not a fan of using bananas. Even when I buy them organic/fair-trade they're not the best environmental decision. Other options for making it smooth include: nut butters, yogurt, or (possibly) oats (my friend Marissa, over at We*Meat*Again just wrote about this possibility). 

If you have it on hand (which I do now--pineapple mint, if you're curious), you can also use fresh mint -- but it takes a lot more! The portions suggested below are just suggestions. If you think it needs to be sweeter (this may depend on the ripeness of your banana as well as your personal tastes), add some agave, honey, or other natural sweetener of your choice. Sometimes my smoothie comes out a little thick -- if this happens, just add a little water or more milk and that should solve the problem beautifully

Spinach-Mint Smoothie

1 cup almond milk (or other milk of your choice)

1/2 cup frozen spinach

1 large frozen banana, slightly thawed (again, unless you have a super-awesome blender -- which I don't)

4-5 drops mint extract or 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, packed

1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. If you don't plan to drink it right away, store in a container that you can shake up later (in case of separation) and store in refrigerator.

Green Smoothie in a peanut butter jar

It's been a while (new recipes soon)

Hey readers - I've been in a less-than-creative cooking/baking mode and also, perhaps, somewhat in survival mode to some degree, as far as eating goes. Things probably won't improve much until the beginning of April, because of a crazy work schedule, but I do have a couple of recipes back-stocked that I hope to get up in the interim.

In the meantime, I thought I would like to ask what your favorite go-to foods are -- this doesn't necessarily mean comfort foods (though it could, I suppose) -- but perhaps more the things that you turn to when the idea of cooking is too overwhelming (or lonely or you just want something that suits the day). My non-comprehensive list includes:

• Sauteed veggies (cabbage, carrot, ginger, onion)
• Beans on a crisped tortilla
• Plain yogurt with blueberries and/or granola
• Veggie sticks with hummus/nut butter
• Beans and rice
• Carrot soups of various sorts

Your turn!