BM# 97: Week 4, Day 3
Theme : Flavors of Greece

I had initially selected a date and chickpea rice recipe for today’s post. But I changed it in favor of this simple stew. This recipe in the book The Foods of the Greek Islands. The author mentions that on the islands, this is a classic vegetable stew made with wild fennel. The recipe had dill instead, but I skipped it since I didn’t have any at home. The stew can be a main dish with some feta cheese and bread on the side.

I served to my son when we was back from school and he didn’t like it at all. I was just done with cooking the stew and unfortunately, the vegetables weren’t done when I served it to him. I had to cook for some more time to get it right and it was perfect for our dinner. It had a mild fennel flavor infused with lemon and was very delicious.

The recipe uses a lot of olive oil, about 2/3 cups. I couldn’t bring myself to use that much so I reduced it a lot. The end result was still yummy. The stew needn’t be watery, though we prefer it that way.

Ingredients:

• 4-5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
• 3 large potatoes, diced into 1.5″ cubes

• 4 cups green peas*
• 3 carrots, diced into 1″ slices
• 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
• 2 cups vegetable stock or water

• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup dill, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

* Green beans is a substitute for the peas and so I used 2 cups peas and 2 cups beans.

Method:

1. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the sliced fennel and sauté until its soft.
2. Add the potatoes, cook for 4-5 minutes. Add 1.5 cups of water/stock along with the peas and beans, carrots, crushed fennel seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and let the stew simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of water or stock, remaining olive oil (the recipe used 1/3 cup, I used only 2 tablespoons), 1/4 cup chopped dill and all of the lemon juice. Cook for another 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and done. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup dill on top and serve warm with some bread and feta cheese on top.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#97