Subscribe to our Daily Teachings | Read our YOGALife & Publications

Vegetarian Cuisine

CREAMY BAKED FENNEL

A delectable vegetable dish with a crunchy topping, good enough to serve at any dinner party.  Fennel is a low calorie vegetable with a good fibre and potassium content in the bulb. Raw, it is sweetly aromatic with delicate anise-like aroma and flavour. When baked till tender, it has a delicious flavour.  Ricotta cheese complements fennel in this recipe, or for a vegan diet, use silken tofu instead of cheese.  The fennel bulb is first steamed for a short while on stove top then baked in the oven.  Choose medium sized fennel bulbs that are fresh and pearly white.  The fronds contain folic acid and B vitamin and can be used raw for garnishing. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

2 bulbs fennel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups fresh white bread crumbs
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons drained ricotta cheese
2/3 cup milk or soy milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Slice the fennel bulb fairly thinly, or cut thicker slices in lengths on the diagonal. Reserve the feathery fronds for garnishing.
  3. Place the slices in a steamer pan, pour the lemon juice over them. Cover and steam over simmering water on medium heat for 5 – 10 min, or just until the fennel begins to soften.
  4. Transfer the fennel to an oiled baking dish.
  5. While the fennel is steaming, toast the caraway seeds in a dry skillet over high heat for a few seconds, then crush them slightly.
  6. Melt butter or margarine in a separate pan and fry the bread crumbs over medium heat until lightly brown.
  7. Beat the ricotta cheese with milk, caraway seeds and salt.
  8. Pour the mixture over the fennel. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and then the chopped parsley.
  9. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 min, until the fennel is tender.
  10. Serve hot.

Edited contribution for Gurugram from The Yoga Cookbook: The Yoga Cookbook. Vegetarian Food for Body and Mind. Recipes from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.  1999.

Live in tune with the Infinite. Rejoice in the Self within. This is the great slogan of life. – Sri Swami Sivananda

Quick Links

Spiritual Calendar

JANUARY 2015

01        Ekadasi
05        Full Moon
14        Makara Sankranti
16        Ekadasi
20        New Moon

FEBRUARY 2015

03        Full Moon
15        Ekadasi
17        Sivarathri
18        New Moon

Glossary

MARGA: Path

Nivritti Marga – the path of renunciation

Preyo-Marga – the path of ignorance / the path of pleasure.

Sreyo-Marga – the path of knowledge.

Pravrittimarga – the path of action or life in the worldly society

Bhakti-marga – the path of devotion

Jnana-marga  – the path of knowledge

Nivrittimarg – The path of renunciation or Sannyasa; the path of return to Brahman.

Archiradi-marga – The path of the gods; the northern path; taken by the Jiva after death through which the Yogi ascends to the world of Brahman.

MAYA: The illusive power of God.

Maya is powerful. Except, in very rare cases, where the Samskaras are very strong, a taste for a life of contemplation does not manifest itself in man. The Avarana of Avidya /the veil of ignorance is so thick that spiritual practice is not sufficient to easily pierce it. Life then only creates Samskaras which take shape in future births. No doubt, Satsang, Japa and Dhyana help a Sadhaka a lot. But, if at the same time you do Vichara, develop Viveka and cultivate Vairagya, then the progress is extremely rapid. Vairagya and Viveka are absolutely necessary. Without these, no amount of Satsang, Japa or Dhyana will produce immediate results. Because Maya is extremely powerful: she can be annihilated only through Dridha Vairagya, only through intense dispassion.

Live in the present, forget the past. Release hopes of the future. – Sri Swami Sivananda

2022-01-01T19:36:05+00:00