Fresh Produce Season is Coming to a Location Near You…
Still MORE fresh Spring fruits and veggies installments, along with great corresponding recipes we found on THE FOOD NETWORK. Low sodium makes them even healthier!
SPRING Fruits and Veggies:
FENNEL: When you find fennel in the spring, the sweetness of this anise-flavored vegetable has a completely different quality than the rest of the year-unless you happen to be lucky enough to live in a mild enough climate where fennel crops happen other times as well.
Wild fennel produces the small flat seeds that are used for seasoning, but it's sweet fennel that can be eaten raw as part of crudites or added to all sorts of savory dishes.
You only eat the white bulb (so select one that is unblemished and feels crisp to the touch), although the fronds can also be used as garnish or in salads. Healthy fronds, if they're still attached, are also a good indication of freshness.
CREAMY FENNEL SOUP with HERB SALAD
(Recipe courtesy Joanne Weir, More Cooking
in the Wine Country, Simon & Schuster, 2001)
5 bulbs fennel with stalks and feathery green tops (2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
2 Tbsp + 1Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
8 C chicken stock
½ C heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp finely ground fennel seeds
6 diagonal-cut slices baguette
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 C fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Remove greens from fennel stalks, chop them, and reserve. Cut fennel bulbs and stalks into coarse pieces.
Heat the 2 Tbsp olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, 7 minutes. Add the 1 clove garlic and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Increase the heat to high. Add chopped fennel and chicken stock, and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until fennel is very tender, 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
Puree the soup, in batches, in a blender until very smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into clean soup pot. Add cream, and season with salt and pepper.
In small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil and lemon juice. Add reserved fennel greens and parsley; toss to coat, and season with salt and pepper. Set the herb salad aside.
Melt butter in large frying pan over medium heat. Add ground fennel seeds and stir for 30 seconds. Add baguette slices in a single layer, and cook, turning once, until golden on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes total. Season with salt, to taste. Remove baguette slices from pan and rub each piece lightly on 1 side with the clove of garlic.
Warm soup over medium heat. Ladle into bowls, place a baguette slice on top of each, and top each slice with some of the herb salad. Serve. REALLY delicious!
Download this recipe.
VIDALIA ONIONS: Onions are such a kitchen staple year-round that it's hard to remember that these extra-sweet onions from Georgia enjoy only a fleeting season in the spring. Their high water content makes them a little tricky to store, so be sure to wrap each one individually in paper towel or aluminum foil before putting them in the fridge. The sweet taste lends itself perfectly to salads, dressings, and onion tarts.
SATURDAY NIGHT VIDALIA ONIONS
(Recipe courtesy Paula Deen)
4 large Vidalia onions
4 low-sodium beef bouillon cubes OR 4 C low-sodium beef broth
4 tablespoons butter
Freshly ground black pepper
Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Trim and slice from the top of each onion, and peel the onion without cutting off the root end. Using a potato peeler, cut a small cone shaped section from the center of the onion. Cut the onion into quarters from the top down, stopping within a 1/2-inch of the root end.
Place a bouillon cube in the center of each onion, slip slivers of butter between the sections, and sprinkle with pepper. Wrap each onion in heavy duty foil and place the onions directly onto the hot coals. Cook the onions for 45 minutes turning every so often.
To serve, place each onion in individual bowl because the onions will produce a lot of broth, which tastes like French onion soup.
Download this recipe.
GRILLED VIDALIA ONION & PAPAYA RELISH
(Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine)
2 lbs Vidalia onion, peeled & cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices
1/4 C olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper (to taste)
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp honey
2 ripe papayas, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 C packed cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
Prepare grill or heat grill pan on stove top. Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes.
Lay an onion slice on a flat work surface. Poke the skewer through center of the 1/2-inch-thick side of the onion slice, carefully pushing the skewer all the way through the onion slice and out the other side. (Skewer and onion should resemble something like a lollipop.)
If skewer is long enough, add another onion slice. Skewer remaining onion slices in same manner. Brush both sides of onions with thin coats of oil; season with salt and pepper.
Grill the onions, flipping occasionally, until browned and lightly charred, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove to a platter; let cool.
In large bowl, whisk lime juice and honey until well combined. Coarsely chop grilled onions and add to the lime mixture, tossing to coat. Add diced papaya and chopped cilantro; carefully stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Download this recipe.
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