This week your basket contains: zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, beans, carrots, sweet peppers, sweet corn, Florence fennel. 

Florence fennel is a relative of carrots and parsnips that has an anise-like flavor.  Cooked, it pairs well with fish.  It can also be raw in salads where it compliments heartier greens like kale or endive as well as avocado.  In Israel, fennel salad is made of chopped fennel bulbs flavored with salt, black pepper, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil and sometimes sumac.  These recipes are also great ways to use your fennel. If you use the bulb, remember to keep the fronds to flavor dishes.  You can keep them in the fridge or hang them in a warm dry place for a few days to dry and then store them in herb bottles.

GREEN BEANS AND FENNEL RAGOUT

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

3 Tbs. olive oil

3 cups chopped tomatoes

3 large potatoes cut in 1/2 inch cubes

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup water

1 lb green beans

2 cups fennel in 1/4 inch slices

2 pinches saffron threads

1 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, sauté the garlic and onions in the olive oil until the onions are translucent.  Add the potatoes and tomatoes, thyme and water.  Cover and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Stem the beans and cut to 1 inch pieces.  Add the beans and sliced fennel to the pot along with saffron, orange peel and lemon juice.  Simmer covered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and beans are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This recipe can be served with hearty peasant style bread and soft cheese like chevre or brie.  The flavors also meld nicely over time and so this dish is great as a leftover.

CUCUMBER & FENNEL WITH ORANGE-MINT DRESSING

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely slivered

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced

2 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. toasted walnuts, chopped 

For the vinaigrette:

2 Tbsp. orange juice

2 Tbsp. walnut oil

1 Tbsp. fresh mint

1 Tbsp. cilantro

1/8 tsp. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Combine salad ingredients except walnuts in a salad bowl and gently mix. In a small bowl, whisk all vinaigrette ingredients until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and pour over salad. Serve immediately or marinate, covered in fridge, for 1-2 hours. Before serving, toss and garnish with toasted nuts. From Yamuna’s Table by Yamuna Devi.

If you are getting tired of corn on the cob (I have heard that this is possible, though I have no personal experience with that phenomenon) this is a good recipe to use your corn.  It can be use with green as well as red peppers (I happen to think having both red and green peppers along with the yellow corn makes for a better looking dish).  On another note, we have started to see some minor damage to the top of some of the corn. As the weather starts to cool, we often see bees and wasps eating into the kernels in search of the sugars.  That bit of the cob is easily trimmed (or ignored as we do).

CARAMELIZED CORN AND RED PEPPERS

2 cups fresh corn kernels

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 red bell peppers, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 garlic clove, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn; stir until beginning to dry and brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Add oil to skillet. Heat over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, onion, and garlic. Sauté until peppers are tender, about 8 minutes. Mix in cilantro and chili powder, then corn. Stir until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.