By the time you read this I’ll be in Israel visiting my son and daughter-in-law, and celebrating the first birthday of my beautiful grandson. The next few weeks will be inspired by the delicious meals and celebrations for which Israelis are famous! First up are a couple of salads using the vegetable fennel.  

Fennel is a very special bulb of a vegetable, with the faintest sweet taste of…what?…licorice(!)…but very faint, so don’t be put off. To me it tastes more like the bergamot that gives Earl Grey tea its characteristic flavor and aroma. If you’ve never eaten fennel before, these recipes are a perfect introduction.

The first fennel recipe below comes from a neighbor, and is, all at once, beautiful, delightful, flavorful, impressive and friendly. The second recipe, despite its apparent simplicity, is one of the most sublime salads I have ever eaten. It’s an especially inspired choice for special occasions and festive meals. Taught to me many years ago by a kitchenful of Moroccan-Israeli sisters, the taste of it lingered in my memory for years, until I finally located the ingredients and spent time preparing it. Cold, sweet and mysterious, it was exactly as I remembered. There is something dreamy and inexplicable about the flavor of fennel paired with lemon. Even the children helped themselves to seconds and thirds, until it was completely gone. 

Both of these recipes make a beautiful appetizer or a side salad. The first can also be an exotic dessert, the second a terrific afternoon snack. Multipurpose — that’s fennel.

Recipe #1

• 1 bulb of fennel
• 2 whole pears
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup walnuts (or sunflower seeds)
• several leaves of red-leaf lettuce
• 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, best quality
• 2 Tbsp. feta (optional)

Place four salad plates in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 400F, and line a cookie sheet (raised sides) with foil or parchment paper. 

Quarter the fennel bulb and halve the pears. Place the fennel and pears on the cookie sheet along with a drizzle of olive oil, and roast at 400F. Chop the walnuts coarsely with a large knife.

Roast the fennel and pears 15-20 minutes until they are beginning to soften. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes, and dice into 1-inch cubes. 

Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces, and distribute among the four cold salad plates. Spoon the roasted pear and fennel onto the lettuce, sprinkle with walnuts, and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar. Feta is optional. Serves 4 generously.

Recipe #2

• 1 bulb of fennel
• 1 large carrot, washed and peeled
• 1 stalk of celery, washed well and trimmed
• 1 whole fresh lemon

Slice the fennel into slivers, and cut the carrot and celery into very thin slices. 

Add to a large bowl, and squeeze out the juice of the entire lemon onto the vegetables. 

Stir well, serves 4-6.