Roasted Fennel, Shallot, and String Bean Salad

Roasted Fennel , shallot and string bean salad is one of my favorite warm salads to serve to company. It is flavorful, kind of exotic, and makes a lovely presentation. 




It is perfect for your gluten free guest, your vegan guest, your nut free guest or your dairy free guest. Now a days, its seems like everyone has eating restrictions, and we need to find healthy tasty recipes that work for everyone.

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Have you ever made fennel?
It's a flavorful vegetable that tastes somewhat like licorice when it is raw but mellows into a completely mild taste when it is cooked. Although I enjoy adding it raw to my salads and crudites platters, my favorite way to make this interesting vegetable is to roast it.

Roasting seems to bring out the sweetness and flavor of most vegetables. It is especially true with the fennel and shallots in this recipe.

There is a short learning curve to working with fennel. It's an odd looking large wide bulb of a vegetable that you need to understand how to peel, cut and prepare. I've included a helpful You Tube video at the bottom of this post on how to cut a fennel bulb.

Being low in calories and rich in nutrients and flavor, fennel is a dieter's friend.

5 Healthy Facts About Raw Fennel 
1. Excellent source of Vitamin C
2. High in Potassium ( helpful for high blood pressure)
3. Rich in antioxidants and provides anti inflammatory properties
4. High in fiber ( we all need more fiber)
5. Low in calories ( 27 calories per cup raw) adds variety to salads

5 Ways To Eat Fennel: 
1.) Peel, cut and add it to any salad ( like celery)
2.) Prepare and cut like sticks for a crudites platter with other vegetables and dip
3.)  Add to soup- my friend swears it is her secret ingredient in her chicken soup
4.)  Roast on a cookie sheet tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper
5.)  Make my Roasted Fennel, Shallot, and  String Bean Salad ( Recipe below)

Warm Fennel, Shallot and String bean Salad

Ingredients:
2 fennel bulbs, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces ( like the size of your thumb finger)
1 pound of shallots, cut in half lengthwise from the root end
1 pound of string beans ( I used Haricot thin beans) , washed and trimmed if needed
1 red pepper cut in strips ( optional)
1/4 cup of olive oil
Himalayan Salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Optional when assembling : 1/2 cup chopped red onion, chopped Kalamata Olives, 

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees
Mix the shallots and fennel in a large mixing bowl with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
Spread the mixed vegetables on 2 parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for about 30-35 minutes until they begin to look caramelized. While the vegetables are roasting in the oven, prepare to steam the string beans. Place a small steamer basket into a a 2 quart saucepan with enough water to cover the steamer basket. Bring to a boil, throw in the string beans, cover, and steam for 2 minutes. Remove string beans and place immediately into cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside. When the fennel and shallots are done allow them to cool for 5 minutes and then mix them with the drained beans. Add chopped red onion and sliced Kalamata olives if desired.

Fennel is a great way to add some variety to your choice of vegetables. 


This YOUTUBE VIDEO was really helpful: 
How to peel and cut fennel You tube

How to you make fennel? 
Please share thoughts or additional ideas in the comments!!

Linking to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking where anyone can share a food related post. This week Beth review the Netflix series called Rotten which explores the many problems in our food industry,. 

This post is also linked to Souper Sunday where anyone can share a soup, salad, or sammie recipe. Check out this week's recipes.