The Geekiest Salad in the Universe

I've never been a big Star Trek fan. Well, ok, there were a few years when I was growing up when I thought Deanna Troi was the coolest woman on TV. But besides that, never a big fan. I think I might have seen one of the movies... once. So I was slightly disturbed when the first thought that came to mind while I chopped my farmer's market-fresh fennel was "That looks just like the Star Trek logo!"




And that's not even a good picture of it. It was kind of eerie... More eerie was that this proved that I'm a big geek. I mean, I've known it for a long time, but this really solidified the fact.

Anyway, when I shook myself out of my geeky stupor and finished cutting the fennel bulbs, I was at a bit of a loss for what to make with said fennel. This recent Chowhound post had given me some good ideas, but I was short on supplies. I already had some corn boiling, intending it as a snack for work the next day. Instead, I cleaned all the kernels off and threw them in with the fennel.

With a little more tweaking, I was left with a very brightly flavored salad. The fennel, still raw, is the focus with its vibrant anise flavor. I liked the texture combination from using both the fennel bulb and stalks. The corn brought a sweet burst of flavor to balance out the savory fennel. Adding lime juice incorporated a tart burst to each bite. This salad is simple to make, but it tastes so complex. It would be a great side dish for some grilled meat or fish.



Fennel and Corn Salad

2 small fennel bulbs, sliced thinly, plus 3 or 4 fronds, chopped
2 ears of corn, cooked, kernels scraped off
juice of 1 lime
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt

Toss all ingredients in a bowl. Make sure everything is coated in the lime juice. Season with sugar and salt to taste.

Shrimp and Fennel

As I stated before, I was not a fan of vegetables when I was growing up. It’s only in the past few years that I’ve really discovered how good they can be. One recent addition to my repertoire is fennel, or anise as my local market labels it. The bulb is like an exotic celery – the consistency is the same, albeit a little less watery and stringy, but the flavor- well, there is flavor, which is not something that celery can really boast. Fennel has a fairly strong licorice taste and smell when raw, but that is all toned down as it cooks.



This dish, aptly named Shrimp and Fennel because I honestly don’t know how else to describe it, is very simple, and the hardest part is just chopping up the veggies. I use cooked frozen shrimp for simplicity, because there’s nothing better than being able to defrost a protein out of the freezer in only a couple of minutes. Total cook time is only about 5 minutes.

1 fennel bulb
1 pound cooked shrimp, tails removed
2 tomatoes (you can also use sun-dried tomatoes for a more pronounced tomato flavor – cook these longer)
splash of half and half
2-3 ounces of feta cheese

Chop a bulb of fennel into bite-size pieces. Also dice 2 tomatoes and set aside.



Saute the fennel in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat until the fennel becomes translucent. Add the shrimp to warm through. After a minute, pour off as much as the liquid as you can, then add a splash of half and half and about 2-3 ounces of crumbled feta. Mix until the feta starts to melt a little and the cream and cheese form a sauce.



As I was enjoying my dinner, I began to think that fennel might be a good snack raw as well. Anyone have any thoughts about what would make a good dip to complement the anise flavor?