SEASONED GREETINGS WITH VEGETABLES

 

Power to the beans! They are dressed with horseradish cream sauce.

Making a Christmas dinner for vegetarian friends one year, perhaps inspired by the thought of roast beef with accoutrements, I came up with the brilliant combination of green beans with horseradish cream. 

Seasoning vegetables with unexpected flavors is a good ploy for any special meal, whether vegetarian or meat-based. It gives them presence next to the turkey, roast beef, glazed ham or, why not, a vegetarian mushroom-rice loaf. Here are some of the ways I spice up the vegetables.

Wild fennel stems and seeds.

Spices and herbs. Use the familiar ones in new ways. Or use triple the quantity. For example, instead of a “grating of nutmeg,” try a whole spoonful of the warm spice with squash or in a béchamel sauce; instead of a sprinkle of "paprika" for garnish, use a heaping tablespoon of pimentón (paprika) mixed into a vegetable. Try out the spices that have been languishing on your shelf—poppy seeds, cardamom, coriander, fennel.

Spice and herb blends are especially good for punching-up the flavor of plain veggies. Try especia para pinchitos, a blend made for marinating the little brochettes you get in tapas bars. It’s similar to Moroccan ras el hanout, a blend of cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne. Other blends to experiment with are Madras curry powder, Palestinian za’atar, American chile powder, Old Bay (celery, mustard, bay, pepper), and herbes de Provence (thyme, rosemary, savory).  

Dip into condiments to season vegetables—mustard, vinegar, pickles, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, miso, olives, capers, Tabasco, chile crisp. Use grated lemon or orange peel to add zest. Mashed anchovies or crisp bacon add oomph to bland vegetables. 

Green beans. Cooks have been trying to fancy-up beans ever since haricots amandine (with toasted slivered almonds). Horseradish (rábano picante) may seem exotic, but it really gives them zing! Stir 1-2 tablespoons prepared horseradish with 2 tablespoons cream, salt, and pepper. Either spoon the horseradish cream over cooked green beans or mix it with the cooked beans and reheat them together. Serve with grated lemon peel on top. Good alongside roast beef. Use skinny haricots or wide, flat beans (pictured at right), strings peeled and beans slivered.

Spinach with cumin and crumbs.

Spinach. I used to make little spinach timbales for holiday dinners, unmolded around the centerpiece roast. But my cooking has simplified over the years. Now I want a pop of flavor and no complications. Cumin is a spice that appears in many traditional Andalusian dishes, a flavor remnant from Moorish Spain. It's a very forward spice; if preferred, use ground cumin for a more subtle flavor. 

Here I have used it in a refrito, a quick-fried sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil with ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 clove crushed garlic until the seeds begin to darken. Remove from heat and add ½ teaspoon Sherry vinegar. Discard the garlic. Spoon the oil and seeds over cooked spinach and top with fried bread crumbs. Spinach with cumin is especially good as a side with roast lamb.

Broccoli is dressed with herbed vinaigrette.

Broccoli. The sauce for the broccoli is essentially a herb-inflected vinaigrette, but it can be served room temperature or heated. Cook broccoli florets until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and refresh in ice water. Place 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence in a jar and add 1 tablespoon boiling water. Let sit 10 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar, 1 clove crushed garlic, and ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. Cap the jar and shake well until sauce is emulsified. Pour over cooked broccoli or combine with the broccoli and reheat briefly. Tip: Vinegar will leach out the bright green of cooked vegetables, so combine sauce and broccoli immediately before serving. (Makes enough sauce for 8 ounces of florets.) Broccoli with herbs would complement roast pork.

Cauliflower escabeche can be served hot or cold.

Cauliflower. Escabeche is a very old method of conserving fish, meat, or vegetables in a vinegar marinade. Nowdays escabeche is prepared for flavor rather than as a preservative. This marinated cauliflower with fennel can serve as a cold dish with salad greens or be reheated in the marinade. Be sure to drizzle the cauliflower with additional olive oil before serving. Marinated cauliflower goes nicely with whole roasted salmon. I've used stems and seeds from wild fennel, but you can use sliced fennel bulb instead.

Marinate cauliflower.

Place ¼ cup of olive oil in a large pan. Spread ½ cup julienned onions, ½ cup red bell pepper cut in strips, and 1 sliced carrot in the pan. Cook on medium heat 5 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown. Add 4 cups cauliflower florets (about 18 ounces). Sprinkle with 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 2 cloves slivered garlic, sprigs of wild fennel or sliced fennel bulb, peppercorns, and coriander seeds. Tuck lemon slices and bay leaf in the cauliflower. Pour over ½ cup white wine vinegar and 1 cup boiling water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover the pan, and cook until cauliflower can be easily piereced with a knife, about 15 minutes. Let the cauliflower cool in the pan. Place cauliflower, vegetables, and marinade in a jar and allow to sit overnight. Serve hot or cold. (Tip; don't use red onion in the marinade, as the vinegar will leach out the color, turning the cauliflower slightly pink. The red peppers are not affected by the vinegar.)

Spiced rutabaga with pumpkin seeds.

Rutabaga. Root vegetables—rutabaga (also known as "Swede" and "neep," nabo sueco in Spanish); parsnips (chirivia); turnips (nabo), carrots (zanahorias), sweet potatoes (boniatos)—are enhanced with sweet spices such as cinnamon or are complemented with herbal flavors such as sage. (Although not root vegetables, pumpkin and squashes fit nicely into this category of sweet, earthy vegetables.) I’ve used two of my favorite spices—ginger and cardamom. The cooked rutabaga is crushed, not pureed, then mixed with spices, olive oil, and Greek yogurt. It can be reheated in the oven or microwave. Spiced rutabaga is a good side with roast chicken or duck or with pot roast. 

Peel and cut into cubes 20 ounces of rutabaga (about half of a big one—you may need an axe to split it!) Cook the cubed vegetable in boiling salted water with a 3-inch strip of orange peel until it is soft enough to mash, about 20 minutes. In a mortar crush ½ teaspoon coarse salt, 12 peppercorns, 6 cardamon pods with husks removed, and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger. Drain the rutabaga, discarding the orange peel. Use a potato-masher to crush the rutabaga, adding 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and ¼ cup Greek yogurt. Stir in the spices and combine well. Add salt to taste. Reheat before serving garnished with pumpkin seeds.

Brussels sprouts with Moroccan spices.

Brussels sprouts. Why are sprouts always part of a holiday dinner? I’m guessing it’s because they are so seasonable (pun intended), coming into the market at exactly this time. Sprouts sautéed with diced bacon may be the absolute best way to season them, but if bacon isn’t part of your meal plan, here’s a spicy alternative. The sprouts can be roasted in the oven (30 minutes at 400ºF) or cooked in boiling, salted water and drained. The spiced Brussels sprouts would sparkle next to roast turkey.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet. Add 2 sliced shallots, 1 tablespoon slivered almonds, and (optional) ½ cup peeled and diced apple and sauté until shallots are softened, 5 minutes. Do not let them brown. Stir in 1 teaspoon ras el hanout spice blend or pinchito spice and 1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon (Moroccan salted lemon). Add the cooked Brussels sprouts. Add a spoonful of water if needed so the sprouts don’t scorch. Heat well before serving. 

Potato latkes with pimentón.

Potatoes. How many ways are there to make roast or mashed potatoes? A spoonful of pimentón de la Vera, smoked Spanish paprika, which comes sweet, bittersweet, and picante-hot, will transform potatoes—roasted or mashed. Pimentón, probably the most popular spice in Spanish cooking, is also a brilliant addition to potato latkes. 

Double-mashed potatoes.

Here's a link to a recipe for Double-Mashed Potatoes with Pimentón (patatas revolconas) and 10 more ways to season the sides for Christmas dinner. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

There's much more about spices and herbs and how to season vegetables in my new cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. 

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

Here's the ideal gift for the cooks in your life--FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. This is a fresh angle on the traditional cooking of Spain, with 120 recipes that can trace their roots to Moorish Spain. See below for where to order. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

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THE FLIP SIDE OF SOUP IS—SALAD!

A soup transmogrified to a summer salad! White beans, pasta, fennel and smoked ham make a salad bowl fit for a party on the terrace.

I´ve just replenished the pantry with jars of legumes, having used the last of them last week with a tasty garbanzo salad. While I’m on to a good thing, why not keep it going? 

The “good thing” being salads or cold dishes based around legumes and lots of vegetables. This week I took inspiration from soup! Spain has so many terrific soups and soupy-stews, one-pot meals packed with flavor, nutrients and, yep, calories. Not the sort of food you want to cook—or eat—on a hot summer’s day.

But swap out ready-to-eat canned beans for the slow-cooked dried ones. Substitute raw vegetables for some of the stewed ones. And, in about 30 minutes, you’ve got a hot-weather meal or a side dish fit for a party.

The soup I picked to flip to summer guise is a potaje from Almería and the highland Alpujarra region of Granada. It’s usually cooked with wheat berries, beans or chickpeas, and wild fennel shoots as well as pork belly, ham and sausage. The fennel adds a subtle sweet anisette flavor that translates nicely to a salad when made with raw cultivated fennel.

Smoked ham or turkey from the deli takes the place of the fatty porky bits. For a vegetarian version, just skip the ham. (Smoked tofu would be a nice addition here.)

No fennel? Use chopped celery for a similar crunch and add a herb such as fresh oregano or mint to take up the flavor slack. You could use diced carrots in place of the butternut squash; green pepper instead of green beans.

Instead of chewy wheat berries, which take forever to cook, I’ve used a toasty, round semolina pasta called fregola. Other quick substitutes for the wheat berries are brown or white rice, Israeli cous cous, orzo pasta or bulgur.

Any type of canned white beans can be used or black-eyed peas or chickpeas.

The vegetables improve with a few hours to macerate in the dressing.

This big salad is packed with vegetables, raw and cooked. Serve it alongside grilled foods at your next party.

Sprigs of green fennel and a dusting of smoked pimentón are the final touch to the salad.

Salad with Fennel and Beans

Ensalada con Hinojo y Alubias

Salad ingredients, clockwise from the top:  diced butternut squash, diced potatoes, fregola pasta, chopped fennel bulb, sliced green beans, halved cherry tomatoes, diced smoked ham, canned white beans and chopped onions.

Serves 8-10 as part of a meal.

Chopped fennel.

2 cups drained cooked or canned white beans
1 cup uncooked fregola or other pasta or grain
1 ½ cups (8 ounces) diced potato
1 cup diced butternut squash
1 cup sliced green beans
1 cup diced smoked ham (6 ounces)
1 cup chopped raw fennel
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon smoked pimentón (paprika) 
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch hot pimentón or dash of Tabasco
Sprigs of fennel to garnish

Place the beans in a large salad bowl.

Cook the fregola in boiling salted water until al dente, 10-12 minutes. (One cup raw pasta makes 2 cups cooked.)

Cook the diced potato in boiling salted water until just tender. Drain and rinse in cold water. Cook the squash in boiling salted water until firm-tender, 5-6 minutes. Cook the beans until crisp-tender. Drain and cool the vegetables and add them to the bowl with the white beans. Add the diced ham, fennel, onion and tomatoes.

Mix gently so beans don't break up.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, pimentón, cumin and salt. Stir in the vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil until dressing is emulsified. Season to taste with hot pimentón or a dash of Tabasco. Pour the dressing over the vegetables in the bowl. Use a large wooden spoon to very gently combine. Taste the vegetables and add more salt, oil or vinegar if needed.


Allow the salad to macerate at least 30 minutes or, covered and refrigerated, up to 12 hours. Stir it again gently before serving. Sprinkle the top with additional pimentón. Garnish with green fennel sprigs.

The first day of summer marked the end of the "state of emergency." All of Spain has now transitioned from pandemic lockdown to what is designated "the new normal." The first tourists have arrived in Mallorca! Shops, bars and restaurants are reopening. We wear masks while on the street, in the market, in offices and other places of work. We can even have a party in our homes and get together with friends! I'm not actually having a party--but this salad would certainly serve a crowd! 

More recipes with fennel:
Fennel Soup with Chickpeas, Wheat and Sausage.
Lenten Fennel Soup with Beans.
Bean Pot with Fennel and Pork Belly.
Orange, Avocado and Fennel Salad.
Pear and Fennel Salad with Walnuts.

SPRIGHTLY SPRING HERBS

Fresh green shoots appear in the pots of parsley, mint and chives on my patio, while fronds of wild fennel pop up from the earth near the vegetable patch. Spring is springing forth! 

I love using fresh green herbs lavishly, in cooked dishes and in salads. Besides parsley, mint, chives and fennel, other herbs that signal springtime are dill, cilantro, tarragon, chervil, celery leaves and garlic scapes.

Fresh parsley and mint--and a tiny snail in the center.

In Spanish cooking, parsley (perejil) is absolutely the favorite herb of all. At the market where I shop,  a big bunch of flat-leaf parsley is often tucked in with the fruits and vegetables as a gift.  It is used, not just as a verdant garnish for a finished dish, but as an important ingredient, imparting a fresh grassiness to meatballs, stews, marinades, salads, fish sauces.

Mint (hierbabuena) is arguably the second most-used herb. It’s the finishing touch for any soup with ham bone or rich sausages, with fish soups and casseroles, with spring vegetables such as artichokes, peas and fava beans. Ferny fennel fronds, with their sweet anise flavor, also are chopped up into vegetable dishes. (Other recipes with fresh herbs are linked at the end of this post.)

Herbal how-to. Wash bunches of parsley under running water. Shake off excess water, then roll it in kitchen towel and pat dry. Store the parsley in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of fridge. Cut away stems before chopping (stems can be used for soup stock). To chop parsley, scrunch it tightly into a ball and chop. Mint can be stored in a glass of water or, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the fridge. Wash it and pat dry before using. Strip the leaves off the stems. 
 

Potatoes in green sauce.

Serve the potatoes as a side dish or as a starter.

Potatoes in Green Sauce
Patatas en Salsa Verde

These potatoes can be served as a side dish or as a starter. As a starter, they may have chopped egg and even a few shrimp added. They are usually prepared with regular potatoes, cut in thick slices. I’ve played up the spring theme by using tiny new potatoes.

Spring onions or “green” onions (cebolletas in Spanish) are immature onions along with their green tops. They’re fatter than scallions, which could be substituted. 

Spring onions, new potatoes.

Serves 6.

2 pounds small new potatoes 
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chopped spring onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped     
1 cup chicken or fish stock or water
1/3 cup white wine
¾ cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Hard-cooked egg (optional)

Cut the potatoes in halves or quarters. In a pan or cazuela, heat the oil and sauté the onion and garlic until softened, 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, turning them in the oil so they don’t brown.

Add the water or stock and wine. Add ½ cup of the chopped parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Season with salt (if using stock, less salt will be needed) and pepper and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent sticking.

Garnish with remaining chopped parsley and chopped egg, if desired. 

Roast Lamb with Spring Herbs
Cordero Asado con Hierbas

Herb marinade makes a tasty sauce for roast leg of lamb.

Sliced lamb with herb sauce.

Mini-processor to make marinade.

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup mint leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fennel leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
2 strips lemon zest, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Leg of lamb (about 3 pounds)

Use a mini-processor to grind together the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, fennel, rosemary, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix in the oil.

Spread the parsley paste on all sides of the lamb. Allow to marinate, refrigerated, for up to 8 hours. Bring the lamb to room temperature before roasting. Place it in a roasting pan.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roast the lamb for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF. Continue roasting until lamb is medium-rare, 145ºF internal temperature, tested with an instant-read thermometer.

Allow the meat to rest 10 minutes before slicing. Add a little water or stock to the roasting pan and scrape up all the drippings. Serve the sauce with the lamb. 

Cucumber, Cheese and Mint Salad
Ensalada de Pepino y Queso Fresco con Hierbabuena

Chopped cucumber, white cheese and mint for a fresh spring salad.

Queso fresco is a soft, uncured, fresh, mild-flavored cheese, usually of goat’s milk, that can be cut into dice. If not available, use feta, but use less salt in the salad.

1 cup peeled and diced cucumber
2 tablespoons diced radish
2 tablespoons diced celery with some of the leaf
2 tablespoons diced scallions or spring onions
1 cup diced queso fresco or feta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Salad greens to serve

In a bowl combine the cucumber, radish, celery and scallions. Shortly before serving add the diced cheese, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the chopped mint and mix gently. Serve with salad greens.

Fava beans, peas, ham and mint. Recipe is here.

More recipes with fresh herbs:

Minted carrot salad.

Chicken soup with mint.

 Fennel and sausage soup.

Potato salad with parsley.

Hake in green sauce.

 

FISH ON FRIDAYS

I usually eat fish on Fridays, not for any religious reasons, but because it’s the day of the week with the biggest selection of seafood at the market. Now, with the beginning of Lent, the period leading up to Easter when many Catholics observe days of vigilia, or abstinence from eating meat, the fish markets are really sensational.

 

Colorful wrasse, something different at the fish market. This one has been gutted and scales removed.

The season brings a bigger variety of fish than usual, including some fish that I don’t find the rest of the year. So, it seems like the right time to sample seafood that I don’t usually cook.

This week it’s a wrasse. A beautiful reddish-orange fish, weighing almost 1 ¾ pounds. The market name in Spanish was bodión. But a search through my fish books—Alan Davidson’s The Tio Pepe Guide to the Seafood of Spain and Portugal (Santana Books); Seafood, A Connoisseur’s Guide and Cookbook, by Alan Davidson with watercolors of fish by Charlotte Knox (Mitchell Beazley), and Manual del Pescado by José Carlos Capel (R&B Ediciones)—led me to decide my fish was probably a (female) cuckoo wrasse or else a ballan wrasse, neither of which is a threatened species. (Check out threatened species at http://www.iucnredlist.org.)

While wrasse is not precisely a “trash” fish, neither is it commonly marketed. Because it’s not an A-list fish such as bass, sole, hake, its price is lower.

I found the wrasse to be “really good,” though not quite “excellent.” The flesh is white, lean and bland in taste; the texture is firm-flaky, like other rock fish; bones not unlike those of sea bass, which is to say, quite acceptable. Small wrasse are best in soups and seafood stews. (A good soup to try is cachorreñas, made with sour Sevilla oranges, recipe ) But my catch was definitely large enough to consider other ways of cooking.

Fish is baked with a spicy chermoula sauce and strips of preserved lemon.

I picked a Canary Islands recipe for baked fish, planning to serve it with spicy mojo verde sauce, made with green chile and cilantro (recipe here ). Then I happened upon a similar recipe for Moroccan fish tagine in Paula Wolfert’s Moroccan Cuisine (originally published as Cous Cous and Other Good Food from Morocco  in 1973). The fish is baked in the oven with chermoula sauce/marinade and preserved lemons. Chermoula is almost identical to mojo (after all, the Canary Islands are closer to Morocco than to mainland Spain). Plus, I just happened to have some preserved lemons waiting for just such an occasion.

Preserved lemon.

Salty preserved lemons are a Moroccan condiment. You can buy them at specialty food shops. I get the lemons at a local market that has several Moroccan butchers and food shops catering to the large Moroccan population in southern Spain. 

The sauce keeps the fish moist as it bakes and the lemons punch up the flavor a lot. Good way to go if a wrasse comes your way, but you could try it with sea bass or similar fish.

I like cooking whole fish. Leaving the head on helps keep the fish moist. And, it’s easier to lift the flesh off of cooked fish than it is to fillet raw fish.

Baked Fish with Moroccan Chermoula Sauce and Preserved Lemons

1 whole fish, about 2 pounds
Salt
½ cup cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
½ cup parsley + 1 tablespoon
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika)
Few threads of saffron, crushed (optional)
Cayenne, to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 fennel bulb
½ preserved lemon
1 cup fresh or canned chopped tomatoes


Sprinkle the fish inside and out with salt. Cut 3 or 4 deep slashes in the fish, on both sides.

To make the chermoula, combine in a blender the cilantro, parsley, garlic, cumin, pimentón, saffron, cayenne, olive oil, lemon juice and ½  teaspoon salt . Blend to make a smooth sauce.

Spread the sauce on both sides of the fish and inside its cavity. Allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Fish ready for baking.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Cut the fennel in half, then cut it lengthwise into strips. Arrange them in the bottom of a baking dish large enough to hold the fish. Place the fish on top. Cut the preserved lemon rind into strips, discarding the flesh. Insert strips in the slashes in the fish’s flesh. Scatter the remainder around the fish. Spoon over the tomatoes and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake the fish until it flakes and easily pulls away from the bones, about 45 minutes.

Sauce keeps fish moist while it bakes.

A WHIFF OF SPRING

Fennel fronds--a sure sign of spring.

Tramping through an overgrown field, I catch the first whiff of spring—the  unmistakable scent of wild fennel. The first sprouts of fennel, crushed underfoot, give off a distinctive sweet, springy-green, anise smell.

Wild fennel grows on dry slopes where I live in southern Spain. After spring rains, the plant sends up the first green fronds that grow to tall, rangy stems by the end of summer. Late in the year, the stalks bear yellow flowers (source of fennel pollen) and bracts of immature seeds. The seeds eventually turn brown and fall away and the  plant dies back in the winter.

Tender fennel shoots for spring soup.

In Andalusia (southern Spain), country folk gather the first feathery shoots of fennel to cook in a potaje, a stew with chickpeas or beans, wheat berries and sausage. Snippets of the fronds are also sprinkled on spring vegetables such as fava beans, peas and artichokes. 

To use wild fennel, choose only young, tender stems. They should be pliable and easily sliced with a knife. Strip off the feathery leaves, saving a few for garnish. If wild fennel is not an option, cultivated fennel bulbs, which you’ll find at the green grocer’s, can be substituted.

Fennel, whether wild or store-bought, loses its pungency with slow cooking, adding a subtle background flavor to the soup. A garnish of chopped fennel leaves, added just before serving, returns the sweet spring aroma to the dish.

Two versions of Fennel Soup, bottom, with sausage; top one is vegan.

Potaje de Hinojo
Fennel Soup with Chickpeas, Wheat and Sausage

The first version of wild fennel soup comes from the upland regions of Granada and Almería, where springtime can be blustery and cold. The robust soup is made with pork ribs, pig tail, fat and sausage (my interpretation is slightly modified) plus chickpeas or beans, sometimes both, and wheat kernels. Besides wild fennel, it might include other foraged greens, such as cardillo (also known as tagarninas), a kind of thistle, or wild asparagus. If morcilla sausage is not available, you could use any pork sausage in the soup.

Wheat berries are delightfully chewy. If not available, try brown rice in the soup, but don’t add it until the last 40 minutes of cooking. I used cooked chickpeas. I soak and cook chickpeas in large batches, then keep them in the freezer to use as needed—quickie hummus, salads, soups. If desired, you can start with uncooked chickpeas. Soak 1 ½ cups chickpeas 12 hours. Drain and place them in the soup pot at the very beginning of cooking. They need about 90 minutes to become tender.

Fennel soup with chickpeas, sausage and wheat.

Chopped fennel stems.

1 cup wheat berries
4 ounces pancetta or bacon
1 cup chopped wild fennel stems or fennel bulb
1 carrot, sliced
2 teaspoons salt
8 ounces morcilla de cebolla (blood sausage with onion)
2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas
2-3 potatoes, cut in pieces
1 cup green beans, cut in small pieces
1 thick slice bread
1 tablespoon vinegar
3 cloves garlic
½ teaspoon pimentón (paprika)
Fennel leaves for garnish

Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the wheat berries and let them soak for 3 hours.

Drain the wheat and add to a soup pot with the pancetta, fennel, carrot and salt. Add 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the morcilla, chickpeas, potatoes and green beans. Simmer 30 minutes more.

Place the bread in a bowl and sprinkle it with the vinegar. Let it set until vinegar is absorbed. Place the bread in a blender with the garlic and pimentón. Ladle in enough of the liquid from the soup pot to soften the bread. Blend until smooth.

Stir the mixture from the blender into the soup and cook another 15 minutes. Remove the piece of pancetta and the morcilla from the soup. Use kitchen scissors to cut them into pieces. Return to the soup.

Allow the soup to settle for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped fennel leaves.



Potaje de Hinojo para Vigilia
Lenten Fennel Soup with Beans

This vegan version of fennel soup is suitable for Lent, which is right now. It has olive oil instead of pork fat to give it substance. I used cultivated fennel bulb for this soup. Cut it lengthwise in quarters, cut out the stem and slice it crosswise.

Canned beans make this soup easy to cook in a short time. If starting with uncooked beans, soak them 12 hours, drain and add to the soup at the very beginning of cooking.They need about one hour to become tender.

Mash the cooked vegetables.

The soup is thickened by a mash of cooked tomatoes, onions, pepper, squash, potatoes and garlic. The garlic is typically char-roasted before being added to the soup pot.

To char-roast a whole head of garlic, spear it on a fork or hold it with tongs over a flame (on a gas stove) or place under the broiler, turning until it is blackened on all sides. When cool enough to handle, rub off outer blackened layer. Cut the top off the head of garlic and add the whole bulb to the soup pot. After cooking, separate and peel  two, three or more of the cloves and add them to the blender mash.

Fennel, pumpkin and beans for a Lenten soup.

Cultivated bulb fennel.

2 cups chopped fennel bulb (1 or 2 bulbs)
1 small tomato, core removed
½ small onion
½ green bell pepper
1 head garlic, char-roasted
2 cups cut-up butternut squash
2-3 potatoes, cut up
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups water
½ teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons pimentón (paprika)
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup cooked or canned white beans (drained)
Fennel leaves to garnish

Put the fennel in a soup pot with the tomato, onion, pepper, garlic, squash, potatoes, salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the water, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Skim out the tomato, onion, pepper, garlic, a few chunks of squash and potato. When they are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the tomato and pepper and some of the cloves of garlic. Place them in a blender with the cumin, pimentón, cloves and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add enough liquid from the soup to make a smooth puree. Stir it into the soup. Add the beans. Cook 10 minutes more.

Serve the soup sprinkled with chopped fennel leaves.

Fennel flower in summer.

More about wild fennel on this earlier blog post. http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2011/08/foraging-for-wild-fennel.html

Tagarninas, wild thistle.

And, about another foraged spring green, wild thistle, (Scolymus hispanicus) http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2010/01/wild-things.html