Roasted Fennel & Green Bean Salad

Fennel is an odd looking vegetable.  Resembling something like an alien, pregnant celery, it consists of three basic parts:  bulb, stalks and leaves, the latter of which are more feather-like than leaf-like. The taste has some semblance of licorice or anise, but not as strong and a little sweeter that will transform and become more mellow when cooked.  I frankly never knew what to do with fennel until I saw this recipe in a beautifully illustrated cookbook from Emeril Lagasse, Emeril's Creole Christmas.

Say what you will about Emeril, he was one helluva cook.  I have been critical of his limited acting range for the camera, and his Food Network shows became stale years before they were relegated to reruns on the Fine Living Channel, but I have no less than five of his twelve cookbooks and have eaten at all of his New Orleans restaurants, some of them several times. Emeril's great strength was in his simplicity of ingredients and in pairing things you normally wouldn't think might go together.  This dish is the quintessential Emeril recipe: unique pairing of simple ingredients, easy to prepare and sublime in its results.

This recipe caught my eye when the third of Emeril's cookbooks was published in 1997 and I have made it a dozen times.  Emeril called this a relish, but I think that was taking liberal license with what most of us consider a relish.  It's a salad or side dish and can be served warm or cold.  Emeril suggested it be served at room temperature. His original recipe also called for the petite style of green beans, sometimes sold under their French moniker, Haricots Verts.  These are longer and thinner than American green beans, and a little more tender.  I have made this recipe with both kinds of green beans, and prefer the Haricots Verts, but both are good.  Be careful you don't accidentally buy something called a pole bean, however.  They resemble green beans, but are tough and contain an inedible fiber down the seam of the pod that must be removed before cooking.  If you use American green beans instead of Haricots Verts in this recipe, you simply need to double the blanching time.

This recipe went very well indeed with a prime rib dinner on New Year's Eve.  For my prime rib recipe, click here.

Ingredients

2 fresh fennel bulbs
1 medium to large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 lb fresh green beans, either Haricots Verts or American
4 oz olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

The Recipe

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove the stalks and leaves from the fennel and cut off the bottom root part.  Remove any discolored leaves from the exterior of the bulbs, then thinly slice them on the bias.  Combine the fennel with the thinly sliced onions in a bowl and coat with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Lay out in a single layer on a cookie sheet or sheet pan, and roast until tender and slightly browned, about an hour to ninety minutes depending on your oven.   But be careful not to cook too long or the onions will burn.

Snap the ends off of the green beans.  If you're using Haricots Verts, leave the pods intact.  If you're using American green beans, snap the pods in half.

Bring 2 quarts of salted water to a boil, and blanch the green beans.  This means to put them into the boiling water, and cook them briefly.  If you're using Haricot Verts, blanch the beans for one minute after the water returns to the boil.  Double this time if you're using American green beans.

Remove your green beans to a large bowl of cold water with ice cubes to immediately stop the cooking process.  Drain through a colander and pat dry.

When the fennel and onions come out of the oven, allow then to cool about fifteen minutes,.  Then, combine all the vegetables and any remaining olive oil in the cookie sheet or sheet pan into a salad bowl and toss well.  Serve at room temperature.