Summer is really here, so I got a ton of stuff from the CSA, just as Dwayne and Brice were coming to visit, and we were going to Connecticut for Sita’s wedding. I’m left with relatively little time to use a large variety of stuff, and this week I have a lot of stuff I detest, namely fennel. I hate fennel. I’ve tried, sort of, to not hate it, but I haven’t managed it. The only adequate use I can find for it is, like, using the green bits on the top as a bed for slow cooked salmon, and honestly that’s just aesthetic (which is why I approve.)
I was also given radichio (?? I know that phonix is aparently a much better way of teaching kids to read, but holy hell does it make spelling difficult sometimes.)
Green beans — blanched and sliced and tossed in with some lettuce from a few weeks agos CSA and stuff for bibimguksu
Radiccio — Salad below
Spring onions
So much fennel
Mustard greens — Stir fried spicy mustard greens, with leftover pork from my birthday
What appear to be several zucchini
Raddichio salad
I remember getting a really good endive salad when I was in london, at some restaurant that I went to in order to spend as much of my per diem as possible. I remember the dinner, in part, because I realized a bit too late that the “potatoes” that I got were basically potatoes a’la milk, and that I was going to have to make it to my hotel Expeditiously. Before those though, I had a really good endive salad, which, like basically all good endive salads was some combination of walnuts, shaved pecornio, and vinegar? idk. Anyway, I forgot endive and radiccio are different, and I made a different salad anyway.
Ingredients:
1 head radichio (didn’t weigh it, but it was smaller than your average cabbage)
Panko
Italian seasoning
Smoked paprika
Pinch MSG
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Salt
Mayonaise
Honey vinegar (champagne or apple cider would probably also do fine here, I wanted something sweet)
Toasted hazelnuts
Peccorino
Wash, slice, and dry the radichio. You want it quite dry.
Toast the breadcrumbs. I always do seasoned breadcrumbs basically the same way: heat a pan over medium heat, add a scant tablespoon (idk who measures) of olive oil. Add the panko. Sprinkle on smoked paprika, a big pinch of italian seasoning, and garlic powder (I’m not chopping garlic today, you cannot make me). Add a pinch of MSG, a 1/4 tsp or so of salt (you want them a bit excessively salty on their own) and black pepper. Cook until golden brown. Remove from heat. It’s sort of like vegan parmersean.
Make the dressing. Mix one large forkful of mayonnaise with a roughly equal amount of vinegar, and some salt, MSG, and a lot of pepper. Mix until there are no lumps. It should be quite liquid but still a bit creamy.
Chop hazelnuts coarsely.
Heat your broiler over high. Add 1/3 of the radicchio to a pan, in a single layer. Broil until you get some char. Remove from oven.
Toss the raw radiccio with the dressing, then add the hazelnuts and toss again, then add the roasted radiccio and half the breadcrumbs, and some peccorino, finely sliced. Toss once more. Put into two bowls, add breadcrumbs on top. I ate this for dinner with tinned fish, but an egg would probably also do ya fine. I have to say: I was surprised by this! I really liked it.
If you have any suggestions for fennel haters who have to use a few fennels, lmk.
I love fennel! First tasted it when I lived in Zaandam- a common vegetable in many meals, at least with the Dutch family I lived with. It showed up roasted with chicken or pot roast-equivalent; sauteed with olive oil as a side; as an omelet ingredient, etc. Basically, most everywhere an American would put a baby potato, red pepper, or carrot (also, often, leeks replaced onions and nutmeg replaced black pepper). You can also pickle fennel with a few orange or lemon slices.