Roasting fennel highlights the vegetable’s licorice-like flavor and brings out its inherent sweetness.

While a lot of people don’t like the idea of a licorice-tasting dish, mostly because they have bad memories associated with black licorice candy (myself included), this distaste shouldn’t scare anyone away from the vegetable itself – fennel is simply delicious, particularly when cooked, and offers a slew of health benefits.

In this tart recipe, fennel is roasted and then baked with herbs, cheese (three different kinds), and potato, all atop puff pastry dough. The resulting tart is the perfect comfort dish that’ll offer a dose of nutrition without you even realizing it.

Nutritional Breakdown of Fennel

In one cup of fennel, there are 73 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, 1000 milligrams of potassium, 7.3 grams of dietary fiber, three grams of protein, 6% of the RDA of vitamin A, 12% of the RDA of calcium, 47% of the RDA of vitamin C, and 10% of the RDA of iron.

The vegetable is a rich source of phosphorous, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, niacin, pantothenic acid, folate, choline, beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Fennel is also high in dietary nitrates and is a natural source of estrogen.

Buying and Storing Fennel

Choose fresh fennel that has a clean, firm bulb with no browning, bruising, splitting, or spotting. The leaves should appear dark green while the bulb itself bares white or white-greenish color. The stalks should not be soft or capable of bending. Instead they should be firm and crunchy. Meanwhile, the fennel should give off a fragrant licorice aroma.

It’s best to use fresh fennel as soon as possible. Even so, it can store for up to five days in the refrigerator.

Roasted Fennel Tart Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the fennel

• 1 fennel bulb
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

For the potatoes

• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes

For the tart

• 6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Pecorino cheese, shredded
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 sheet puff pastry

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the fennel in half, lengthwise, and then cut it horizontally into thin slices. Transfer the fennel to a baking sheet, drizzle the slices with olive oil, and season them with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set side.

While the fennel is baking, prepare the potatoes. Skin the potatoes and slice them horizontally into 1/8-inch thick pieces. Add the potato slices to a pot and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil. After two minutes, drain and rinse the potato slices. Set aside.

To prepare the tart, press the puff pastry dough into a 10-inch tart pan. Use fingers to press the dough into the bottom and up along the sides of the park. Poke holes across the bottom of the dough-lined pan with a fork. Place the tart pan in the refrigerator and let chill for 30 minutes.

While the dough chills, prepare the cheese mixture. In a small saucepan oven medium-low heat, add four ounces of Gruyere cheese along and 3/4 cup of the pecorino cheese along with the mascarpone cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the mixture melts.

Once the dough has chilled, start layering the fillings. First, start with the potatoes. Create a layer using half of the potato slices. On top of the potatoes, spread half of the melted cheese mixture. Repeat the same two layers, using up the remaining potatoes and cheese. Top the last layer of cheese with the roasted fennel. Top the tart with the reserved Gruyere and pecorino cheeses and sprinkle with fresh rosemary. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden-brown and sizzling hot. Let cool slightly (or completely) before serving.

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The post This Cheesy Roasted Fennel Potato Tart Will Bring You to Your Knees appeared first on EcoSalon.

Gourmet seasoned salt blends add delicious flavor to your meals and they make great gifts, too.

Salt, while highly overused in the Western Diet, is still an essential ingredient for a healthy life. Knowing where to cut out the bad stuff and where to add in the good can make all the difference. Limiting your intake of processed/ fast food–which are usually excessively salted for flavor and preservation–is a great place to start. And making these simple DIY gourmet seasoned salt  recipes can consciously connect you with your salt intake and take it to a new level.

Adding herbs and spices to your salt reduces the overall sodium content and adds lots of delicious flavor. Most anything is fair game—and half the fun is in experimenting.

When making salt blends, I recommend working with a high quality mineral salt such as Himalayan, Peruvian or a Mediterranean Sea salt. But you can also use a natural sea salt—just avoid any products with an image of a lady with an umbrella in a rainstorm. You want a natural salt, not a chemical one.

I prefer a coarse salt, but if you like a finer texture, that works well, too. The ideal ratio is about ¼ cup of salt to 1 tablespoon of herbs or 1 teaspoon of spice. For anything exceptionally hot (like cayenne), reduce the teaspoon to half, adjusting for more flavor as your taste buds dictate.

A few favorite recommendations:

Image: L. Marie

1. Citrus: Dried citrus peels such as lemon, lime or tangerine, can bring a wonderful fragrance and flavor to your salt. Peels will dry easily in a dehydrator or in an oven at a low setting of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once dried, macerate the peels with a mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder. A little texture is nice; so don’t pulverize into a powder.

Image: Katerha

2. Fresh dried herbs: Herbs add quite a bit of depth to salt—and vice versa—the salt brings out the essence of fresh herbs. You can easily dry your favorite herbs by hanging them upside down for a few days. (You may want to lightly cover them in muslin or cheesecloth to keep dust and bugs from settling on them.) For a savory herb blend, try any of the following: rosemary, marjoram, parsley, sage, oregano and thyme. You can also use dry leafy greens such as spinach, kale or even a spicy arugula for a nice green kick with lots of flavor. For something a bit sweeter, try mint (peppermint or spearmint), lemon balm, lavender or even chervil.

Image: slightly everything

3. Mushrooms: Dried mushrooms are aromatic and full of flavor. Truffles are of course the holy grail of fungus, if you can get your hands on some, use them sparingly (their price will ensure that!). Dried shiitakes are widely available in the macrobiotic section of health-minded stores and add a lovely umami flavor—but essentially any dried mushroom will do, even crimini or buttons. Grind them well once they’re dried and add a little at a time as their strong flavors can vary from cap to cap.

Image: djwtwo

4. Peppery: Of course, what goes better with salt than pepper? I personally recommend a variety of coarsely ground whole peppercorns. Pink and white are so aromatic, and so is a nice Tellicherry black, too. You can also go the hotter route with a nice smoky paprika, cayenne or crushed pepper flakes.

image: Eve of Discovery

Store salt blends in a well-sealed glass jar. They should keep indefinitely. Enjoy!

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Top image: QuintanaRoo

The post Savory, Smoky, Tart and Sweet: 4 DIY Gourmet Seasoned Salt Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.