I’ve been wanting to cook with fennel for some time now. It’s got a lot of vitamin c, fiber, potassium, maganese, folate, etc.

I guess I just hadn’t found a recipe that called out to me until today. I don’t even remember how I came across it, but I found a recipe for fennel soup.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fennel-Soup/Detail.aspx

I reduced the butter to 2 Tbsp, and added a drizzle of oil to brown the fennel in. I think, next time, I’d cut the fennel in smaller segments. Fennel bulbs are not small, and even though I picked the smallest bulbs I could, quartered fennel still yields pretty big pieces. No big deal, it just means that I let the soup simmer for ten minutes longer. (By the way, how does fennel smell almost meaty as it is browning? I was impressed.) The only other change I made was to use chicken broth instead of veggie broth.

I served it with poached chicken, and I don’t think there was anything more perfect for such a small amount of effort. It was reminiscent of chicken soup; it was reminiscent of a bowl of pho.

I was in soup heaven, I think.

There’d be a photo if I hadn’t downed my bowl in like 30 seconds. ^_~

~ Mikan