Sometimes I wonder how I survived my college days. Late nights, homework, and field work often left me with little time to cook fancy meals. I currently find myself in the same predicament. I have limited time to spend in the kitchen and the work never seems to end.
That’s why tonight I have another simple recipe for you guys. I suggest you eat it in conjunction with some beans or something. In college, however, I’d just roast up 1 or 2 fennel bulbs with parmesan cheese and eat them all for dinner. Yep, I was a simple gal back in the day…and probably also deficient in many nutrients except for folate and fiber. Fennel is a good source for those two.
For all you vegans, feel free to omit the cheese. For you cheese lovers, feel free to add more cheese. For you vegetarians, make sure your parmesan cheese uses microbial rennet and not just rennet. Regular rennet is generally extracted from a calf’s stomach after they’ve been killed.
- 2 fennel bulbs
- ⅓ cup of Parmesan cheese (shredded) - optional but it tastes great with it; you're also welcome to add more!
- 1 tsp fennel fronds
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper for taste
- Preheat 375
- Slice the fennel into thin ⅓ inch slices.
- Lightly brush the baking sheet with olive oil. Place the fennel slices on the pan. It's okay if the edges overlap. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the fennel. Add a few shakes of pepper and salt over the fennel before drizzling the rest of the olive oil over it.
- Roast the fennel for about seven to eight minutes. Broil it at 500 degrees for 3 minutes and closely monitor it to prevent it from burning. The broiling will brown the cheese. If you choose to omit the cheese, then you can probably skip the broiling part.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but back in the day, I was quite obsessed with fennel. I even went as far as using organic fennel flavored toothpaste! To my utter disappointment, the toothpaste didn’t taste that great and cost way too much money. Have any of you ever tried organic fennel flavored toothpaste?
If you haven’t, I’ll just save you the time and money and let you know that it ain’t worth 5 dollars. But the fennel bulbs from Trader Joe’s that you can roast up with some melted cheese on top are worth every single penny. $2.99 to be exact.
Have a great night and if you find yourselves short on time during the week, make sure you roast up some of this! Stay happy and healthy, y’all!
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