How To Consume Fennel? Know All Its Properties

Many people like to eat this vegetable raw so they can enjoy all of its essential nutrients. Its original texture and characteristic flavor are easily recognizable. However, there are different alternatives to be able to consume fennel. Here are some options for you.

A very common plant

Fennel grows wild throughout the Mediterranean, in part of America and some regions of Asia. Its flowers are small and the height of its stems can reach quite high. If we take a piece of the plant and smell it, its aroma reminds us of a mixture of licorice and anise.

Being a wild plant, it is very well adapted to the environment in which it lives, fennel being very resistant to droughts and heat waves. However, it is not a friend of the cold, although it is rare that it affects it when it blooms from June.

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Options for consuming fennel

• The first alternative is crude. Keep in mind that the bulbs may not be too tender, so it’s best to discard their first layer. If they are still hard, it is better to leave that vegetable to prepare it in broths, for example.
• Sliced ​​very thinly, it is an excellent ingredient for salads. Don’t forget the vinaigrette dressing. It can be eaten perfectly with celery and apple in the Waldorf salad.
• The leaves, when they are tender, can be added in fillings, dressings, sauces or preparations with meat and chicken. In turn, it is the one that best combines with fish dishes, due to its flavor.
• If you boil or steam them, the stems are used the same as asparagus, to give a different touch to potatoes, eggs or rice.
• Fennel seeds can be used to prepare breads, cakes, and cookies.
• If it is cooked in its own liquid, it is very tasty. You can make a stir fry with fennel, garlic, onion and tomato.

Fennel infusion

It is used to relieve the symptoms of indigestion or slow digestion, burning or stomach pain, nausea and gas, among others, since it was popularly used to relieve gastrointestinal ailments. Although there is research that studies this relaxing effect in animals, it is not enough to clarify which are the components of this plant that achieve this effect.

To make an infusion of fennel you will only need half a liter of water and 25 grams of this raw vegetable. The steps are more than simple:

1. Boil the water.
2. When boiling, add the fennel.
3. Boil for 5 minutes.
4. Let stand 3 minutes.
5. Strain and serve in a cup.
6. Drink hot or lukewarm.

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Fennel properties

Beyond being used to alleviate digestive tract ailments and being very rich in food, there is a popular belief that fennel can provide the following benefits to our body, although at the moment  there is no scientific evidence of it:

• Reduce appetite
• Decrease sleep
• Good digestive.
• Helps to cough up.
• It can fight bad breath.
• Relieve the symptoms of gingivitis.
• It can help eliminate bacteria and parasites.
• Stimulate, in a slight way, the production of breast milk.