Fennel: beautiful, crunchy and different

When I went to the grocery store this weekend, I was somewhat surprised to find the produce department full of spring vegetables and loaded with big, green, fresh-looking cabbages - which didnt make me think about cole slaw so much as it made me think of St. Patrick's day and corned beef, cabbage and potatoes.

I don't really love the bland taste of cabbage (even though it's really good for you, and apparently is delicious if you don't overboil it, as I always do).

Also, I don't particularly love the smell of boiled cabbage.

However, there is a bounty of fennel around at this time of year, which made me think of a variation on the classic: How about corned beef, whipped potatoes and roasted fennel?

Fennel is a vegetable that many people ignore even though it has a lot to offer.

It's an antioxidant, so it helps fight the free radicals that can damage cells and cause cancer.

It's an antiflammatory and helps reduce swelling in the joints.

It also helps with digestion and is recommended for people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome.

It's also got vitamin C, fiber, potassium, manganese, folate, niacin, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper.

And perhaps best of all, it has a very mild flavor, unlike some of the other super-veggies such as broccoli and, well, cabbage. And it's crunchy and refreshing, like celery, but it's not as fibrous and it has more flavor.

It is often called anise, and tastes a little like licorice.

Not sure how to cook it? Fennel is fantastic raw. Slice it thin and use it in a salad (a classic Italian salad combines fennel with orange slices and shaved parmesan cheese) and, in chunkier slices, as a crudité with dip or the wonderful smoked salt sold at the Old Drover's in Dover Plains.

I often take a bulb of fennel and toss it in with chicken breasts that I roast in a 375-degree oven. The juices from the chicken moisten the fennel and make it tender and sweet.

Many cooks braise fennel (bake it in a pan with water and savories such as onion, garlic and herbs).

I prefer it roasted.

If you're not making a chicken (and you won't be with this recipe), try roasting it with some olive oil on it, or braising it first in some chicken stock (it actually will be a little dry if you roast it on its own). Trim the leafy fronds off the top of the bulb, and trim off the hard base (fennel is like celery; after you cut off the outside of the base, there is still some left to hold the individual fronds together).

Cut the remaining bulb in quarters, leaving the base intact so that you have four banana-like sections.

Use a baking dish large enough for your fennel quarters to lie flat. Pour in enough chicken stock to come up about a quarter or half inch in the roasting dish. Season with some salt and pepper. Roast in a 375-degree oven for about 15 minutes, until the fennel becomes soft and nearly translucent and just begins to brown. Serve with whipped potatoes and corned beef.