Decadent Diet: Sliced Fennel Roasted with Garlic, Olive Oil and Lemon Juice (Food and Crafts for All Occasions)

Who said that diet cannot be decadent? There’s no oxymoron here. You can eat food that will let you lose several pounds and still maintain high gourmet standards. Like that Japanese style salad below. Or what about roasted fennel? It’s just what the dietician ordered: it’s lean, it’s not starchy and it’s full of health benefiting nutrients. At the same time, it’s a perfectly decadent dish - unique flavored, moist, crunchy, fragrant and absolutely delicious.

I know that some may consider fennel aroma a bit strong and even somewhat unpleasant. But let me tell you, I understand this more than anybody else. Perhaps, if I were born Greek, flavor of fennel and anise would be quite natural to my taste buds. But I was born in Russia during the times when neither of these was available to public, and the only licorice-tasting substance in my life was cough syrup my mom would give me when I got a cold. And though I didn’t mind the flavor at all (in fact, I thought it was quite yummy), in my mind it became tightly associated with medicine.

For the same reason, I believe, many Russians don’t like ouzo. Drinking it gives us sort of cognitive dissonance: who would drink medicine for fun?

It took me some time to connect anise flavor to food. It started in Tom Douglas’ Lola. When you order kebabs there, most of them are served in a blazing hot cast iron pan, which waiter drizzles with a shot of ouzo right before placing it in front of you. Immediately sweet licorice aroma spreads around and mixed with the smell of grilled onions, meats or seafood it doesn’t smell like doctor’s office to me anymore.

The same goes with fennel, which is now one of my favorite vegetables. If you’re not yet a fan of this wonderful root, try it roasted. I know fennel can be quite overwhelming in its raw state, but once it gets cooked, its sharp licorice flavor softens significantly.

Roasted fennel goes well with almost any kind of roasted, grilled or sautéed meat, poultry, fish or seafood.

You will need:

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
Red hot chili pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp white dessert wine (optional, if you like a touch of sweetness)
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, to taste
Fresh herbs, rosemary and/or sage (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Rinse and pat dry fennel. Cut large bulb in quarters (small in half) and then slice thinly. In a bowl mix together garlic, oil, lemon juice, salt, chili flakes along with herbs and dessert wine (if using).

Add the fennel slices and gently toss until they get well coated with oil. Put in a baking dish or on a metal baking sheet and put in the oven. If you like roasted garlic, put several unpeeled garlic cloves.