Fennel Tsatsiki Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Place fennel bulb and fronds in small bowl. Sprinkle lightly with salt; toss. Let stand 10 minutes. Mix in yogurt, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper.
• 2. Sprinkle 1 side of each fillet with ground fennel, salt, and pepper. Brush with egg white; coat with panko. Turn over; repeat with seasoning, egg, and panko.
• 3. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish. Cook until opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Serve with tzatziki.

Steps:

• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Coat the bottom of another smaller saute pan with olive oil.
• Sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. When the large saute pan is screaming hot but not quite smoking, lay the fish fillets in the pan skin-side down. Place the small saute pan directly on top of the fillets; this applies gentle pressure to the fish and forces the skin to have contact with the pan and will create crispy skin. Cook the fish for 2 to 3 minutes, and then remove the top pan. Shake the pan a little to unstick the fish. Use a fish spatula to flip the fillets, and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side. For thicker cuts or more well-done fillets, place the fish on a baking sheet skin-side up and pop in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 2 or 3 minutes. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
• Serve with the Nonfat Tzatziki, Warm Lentils with Mustard Vinaigrette and Kale and Pine Nut Salad.
• Grate the cucumber and place it in a fine strainer over a bowl. Salt the cucumber and allow it to drain until most of the juices come out, approximately 10 minutes. Squeeze out the last bit of juices and transfer to paper towels to pat dry.
• In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, white wine vinegar, garlic, mint and dill. Refrigerate to allow the flavors to meld, at least 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving. Yield: 2 cups
• For the lentils: In a large saucepan, combine the lentils, bay leaves, garlic, celery, thyme, carrot, fennel, red onion and a good amount of salt. Add water to the pan until it covers the ingredients by about 2 inches. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the lentils are soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Ladle off 1 cup of the lentil-cooking water and reserve. Remove all the vegetables and aromatics from the lentils and discard. Drain the lentils.
• For the warm salad: Heat a large saute pan with enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add the diced carrots, fennel and onions and sweat the vegetables about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add in the lentils, red wine vinegar and mustard. Pour in a couple tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquid and cook down for a couple minutes. Season with salt and garnish with chopped parsley and fennel fronds.
• Place the kale in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and some salt. Toss the kale in the dressing and let sit at room temperature to soften.
• Before serving, check the seasoning and add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Top with the toasted pine nuts.

Steps:

• Trim fennel stalks flush with bulb, reserving fronds and discarding stalks, and trim any discolored outer layers. Halve bulb lengthwise and discard core. Finely chop fronds and bulb. In a dry small skillet toast fennel seeds over moderate heat, shaking skillet, until fragrant and a shade darker. In an electric coffee/spice grinder grind seeds. Mince garlic and squeeze juice from lemon.
• In a large bowl stir together chopped fennel, ground fennel seeds, garlic, yogurt, salt, and lemon juice to taste. Tsatsiki may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Steps:

• Prepare grill.
• In a dry small skillet toast fennel seeds over moderate heat, shaking skillet, until fragrant and a shade darker. In an electric coffee/spice grinder grind seeds. Mince garlic. Squeeze juice from lemon into a small bowl and stir in fennel, garlic, salt, and oil. Put halibut in a large dish and pour marinade over it, turning fish to coat. Marinate halibut, covered and chilled, at least 10 minutes and no more than 1 hour.
• Grill halibut on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until just cooked through, about 5 minutes on each side. (Alternatively, grill halibut in a hot oiled well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderate heat.)
• Serve halibut with tsatsiki.