Freelance Writing Jobs | Today's Articles | Sign In

Easy Recipe for Fennel Crumble

Healthy Vegetarian Food With Licorice Flavour and Crunchy Topping

Aug 18, 2008 Elaine Walker

Healthy cooking with this quick and easy fennel recipe, which is bound to become a favourite with it's creamy licorice taste. Find out about fennel's health benefits too.

Fennel has been a popular herb throughout history. It was relied upon in medieval times to keep witches at bay, more recently we know it to be a good source of antioxidants as well as a great comfort to people of all ages with fragile digestive systems. Fennel tea is given to babies to soothe gripes.

Fennel is a Feel-Good Food

According to the famous Boston physician, Dr. Norman Shealy writing in the Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Healing Remedies, fennel has several benefits including treating anxiety and depression. He says that it helps to stabilise hormones during the menopause. It also helps prevent premenstrual water retention which would add it to the list of feel-good foods for most women!

Healthy Eating

It is not unusual to find fennel seeds widely used in cooking, but in fact the plant can be eaten in its entirety. Although they have little flavour, the delicate lacy green tops can be gently rinsed and added to salads or used to garnish dishes.

The white fennel bulb has the expected liquorice or aniseed taste, although milder than the seed. When cooked, the flavour is more subtle. The unexpected blend of flavours in this quick and easy recipe brings together the creamy freshness with an aromatic sweet flavour that the kids will enjoy.

This healthy recipe substitutes oats for the greater part of the topping, and yogurt is used instead of cream. These changes simply add to the flavour.

Feel-Good Fennel Crumble

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 medium sized firm fennel bulbs
1tbs plain flour
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
1 ¼ cups plain yogurt
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt and black pepper

Topping

1 cup oats
¼ cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs or rye bread crumbs
2 oz / 60gm butter
1 clove garlic crushed

Method

Trim the top and bottom of the fennel bulb and remove any discoloured bits.
Cut into thin slices, rinse carefully and drain.
In a saucepan of boiling water, add lemon juice and fennel and cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat until the fennel is beginning to soften.
Drain and rinse the fennel in cold water.
In a bowl place the fennel, honey, salt and pepper. Stir.
Place mixture into a lightly greased oven-proof dish.
Mix yogurt and mustard well and pour over the top.
Mix together oats, flour and bread crumbs.
Heat butter in small saucepan and gently cook the garlic for less than a minute.
Pour over the oats mixture and stir well.
Spoon this over the fennel and press down lightly with the back of the spoon.
Bake at 180 C or 350F for 20-30 minutes.

Serve with a fresh green salad and a soft drink for the ultimate healthy meal.

The copyright of the article Easy Recipe for Fennel Crumble in Healthy Cooking is owned by Elaine Walker. Permission to republish Easy Recipe for Fennel Crumble in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Healthy Recipe fo Fennel Crumble