The people I work with are always coming up with the most sublimely delicious recipes, and this is one. If you’ve never eaten fennel, you are in for a delicious treat. When eaten raw, it’s crunchy and sweet, a bit like celery with a faint whiff of licorice. But when cooked, it’s a different vegetable altogether. Fennel comes in bulbs, and the easiest way to cut it up, no matter how you intend to use it, is to slice it in half from top to bottom, and then to slice each half-bulb into thin blades, all of equal length and width, as you work around the bulb. It’s a total team player, a great addition to any vegetable soup recipe, happily absorbing other flavors from the pot at the same time as it makes its own gentle contribution.

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2 ribs celery, rinsed and sliced very thin
1 medium bulb fennel (sliced, top to bottom around the bulb, into thin blades)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
15-ounce can diced tomatoes
4 cups kale, washed VERY well, deveined and shredded
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
5 cups water

Instructions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes, until softening, stirring often. 2. Add garlic, carrots, celery, and fennel. Cook approx. 5 minutes more, stirring often, until vegetables begin to wilt.
3. Add tomatoes, kale, water, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil, immediately reduce heat to medium, and simmer 25-30 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Stir in the parsley and serve. Serves 4.

*To rinse greens most efficiently, fill a large pot or pitcher with water, and add in the greens. Stir the greens well, lift them up and out of the water, and rinse one last time. All the bits of dirt and sand will be at the bottom of the container, and the greens will be perfectly clean.

Thank you to clevelandclinicwellness.com for a prior version of this beautiful recipe.