Fennel essential oil is in season all year round. But fresh fennel? Autumn and winter, so let’s be in tune with nature and make the most of it while fresh and abundant. If out of season, you’ll often find baby fennel available.
When preparing fennel for dishes, recipes tend to call for the bulb. But the stalk, leaves and seeds are all edible, too. Look for fennel bulbs that are sweet smelling and still have their fluffy tops intact. Remove the bitter core from the bulb carefully with a small knife unless specifically told to include the entire bulb.
Cooking mellows the strong aniseed flavour somewhat, especially in soups. It’s a lovely fresh, crunchy addition to salads, too, but needs an even more sparing hand when used raw. Slice it as finely as you can so it’s not overwhelming. You can also blanch slices briefly to make the flavour milder.
If you’re new to essential oils and not yet familiar with how they are obtained, it’s easy to imagine the essential oil being somehow pressed from the bulb. But fennel oil (Foeniculum vulgare) is extracted by steam distillation of the crushed fennel seeds. And its key constituent is trans-anethole. Anethole is also found in anise, which is why fennel has its distinctive aniseed flavour. Neat, huh! There’s your miniature science lesson for the day.
One way to use fennel essential oil is to nurture your scalp. Add a few drops to warm olive oil, massage in and leave in overnight before shampooing out in the morning. So easy and zero harmful additives that you’ll usually find lurking in commercial hair oil treatments!
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
Any questions? Please get in touch via our Contact page.
And now: hello, comfort food! You can use fresh fennel on its own, but we love adding Young Living™ essential oils to recipes whenever we get the chance so we’ve included fennel and nutmeg essential oils, too. *PLEASE NOTE: Only use oils internally when the label specifically says you can do so. Some oils are not meant for ingestion – and aside from that, there are very few brands of the quality imperative for this purpose.
Fennel Essential Oil-Infused Pumpkin Fennel Gratin
Recipe adapted from Dr Oz
INGREDIENTS
- 1.2 kg peeled and cubed butternut pumpkin
- 3 tbsp rice bran oil or coconut oil
- 2 fennel OR 1 fennel and Young Living™ fennel essential oil*
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 1 pinch of dried ground nutmeg OR 1 drop Young Living™ nutmeg essential oil*
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp Himalayan or sea salt
- 125g freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or non-dairy substitute suitable for melting)
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
PREPARATION
- Preheat the oven to 175C/350F
- Halve each fennel bulb, carefully remove the bitter core with a small knife, remove and reserve the fronds and slice the bulbs
- Oil a 20x30cm ovenproof casserole dish
- Place a medium frypan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil and cook fresh fennel and onions until both are translucent (about 10 mins)
- Add garlic and cook another 2 mins. Stir in nutmeg powder (or if using nutmeg oil, you’ll add that shortly), almond milk and salt. Bring mixture to the boil and remove from heat
- Chop 3 tbsp of the reserved fennel fronds. Spread half of the pumpkin in the bottom of the ovenproof dish
- Stir fennel and nutmeg oils through the fennel/onion mixture. Top pumpkin with half the fennel/onion mixture and half the fennel fronds, then lightly salt and pepper. Repeat, ending with the fennel/onion mixture and remaining chopped fronds. Salt and pepper again
- Cover dish with foil and place on a flat pan on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 mins Remove the foil, top with grated cheese and bake for another 15 mins
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before eating
This is great served on its own or used as a side dish. Save energy for the planet and double up on your oven use by serving it with oven-baked sustainably-sourced fish, free range/organic chicken or turkey. Add a green salad or lightly steamed beans. Too easy! Not that there’s any such thing in my book.
Remember, when choosing essential oils, they are NOT all created equal. Quality varies immensely, so please ensure you are choosing a brand with complete transparency from seed to seal, such as Young Living. Discover why we love them so much in this short video.
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
Any questions? Please get in touch via our Contact page.
