Tag Archives | fennel seed

Oven-Braised Fennel with Saffron & Chickpeas

Published on in Freeze-able, Legumes, Main course By |
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Braised Fennel with Saffron and Chickpeas

I have always known that fennel was great for digestion, but it wasn’t until the last few years that I learned it was anti-carcinogenic (anticancer) too. This is mostly due to its high levels of quercetin, a flavonoid (plant pigment) that is also useful in seasonal allergy relief.

Braised Fennel with Saffron and Chickpeas

If anyone else shares a home/bed with someone with sneeze-heavy seasonal allergies that you respond to with polite ‘bless you’ s in February that escalate to less polite ‘OMG, you need to shut up!’ s in March and April, you’ll understand that this isn’t as important as fighting cancer but it’s certainly not not important either. With fennel, we don’t have to choose, we can fight cancer and allergies at the same time.

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Fermented Pickles (Homemade Probiotics)

Published on in Condiment, Fermented, Keto-friendly, Nightshade-free, Raw By |
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The first time I fermented my own pickles, I made them way too salty. I have issues with numbers, which makes following recipes really hard, and apparently results in salty pickles. After staring at them for a while, I saved them and added them (in small amounts) to recipes the same way you might add capers. The rest, I dehydrated, ground up and realized I had invented my own fermented, raw dill pickle seasoning (popcorn, anyone?).

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Tomato & Fennel Soup

Published on in Freeze-able, Soup By |
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When I think of comfort food, I think of tomatoes. I am a quarter Lebanese by blood and about 2/3 Lebanese when it comes to food obsessions. Although we are third generation Canadian, my sisters and I grew up embracing all things tomato, parsley, mint and lemon. For a special treat, my Mom would make stuffed grapevine leaves (we would help roll) baked in a tomato sauce, served with a classic tabouli salad. If it was just the four of us and our Mom for the night, she would often make the very most epic ratatouille with chick peas, finished with a healthy squeeze of lemon and some parsley for dinner. When we were sick, naturally, we got tomato soup.

Perhaps this is why I gravitate towards tomatoes when planning menus for clients who are unwell. It doesn’t hurt that tomatoes are also one of the richest sources of the antioxidant, lycopene, which is well known for its cancer fighting and preventing abilities. The lycopene is actually more abundant in cooked tomatoes than in raw, so a slow-simmered tomato soup is especially healing.

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