Fennel Lemon Spring Rolls

I don’t know about you but when summer comes, I lose all desire for heavy food. Being new to the raw food diet, I have found myself eating the same portion sizes and still being hungry after. This is common. So my challenge has been to make myself meals that are filling, but don’t leave me feeling like I swallowed a hunk of granite. I love eating spring rolls in the summer and always have, but lately, without fish, they just haven’t been as filling. Until now! I filled these gorgeous raw spring rolls with fennel and carrot and micro-greens. Mixed with the sauce, just two of these rolls had me feeling the perfect kind of full! And you know what? The tahini helped, but it’s all thanks to the fennel.

Fennel is one of those foods that I have loved since I was a little kid. My mother would make this cheesy fennel casserole. To tide my brother and me over until it was done, she would let us nibble on the raw stalks of fennel. I grew up in a very German household and fennel has always reminded me of licorice. which I love! But I had never really looked into the nutritional benefits of fennel. I figured it was like celery – full of water and cellulose and highly debated in regard to health. Wow was I wrong!

Saving Lives and Making Friends

Fennel is amazing! Not only does it contain powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that lower the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and neurological diseases, it also is an antimicrobial and antiviral. I will definitely be eating a lot more fennel in the days to come! Perhaps most amazing though, is the promising data that could put this bulb at the forefront of medicine! Test tube studies have found that fennel and fennel seed can actually induce cancer cell death in breast cancer cells and stop the cancer from spreading. In animal studies, data suggests that extract from fennel seeds may protect against breast and liver cancer. “Um yes, excuse me. Is this the seed store? Yes? I would like 10 twenty-pound bags of fennel seeds, please.” I, like many of us, love my boobs, so if this little plant can really protect them, I’ll eat a boat load! 

 It doesn’t hurt that this food tastes like candy! So why don’t you join the thousands of happy pappy people and pick up a great big bushel of fennel bulbs tomorrow! That’s fennel, for your tatas! *wink*

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Fennel Spring Roles with Tahini Lemon Sauce

To make the spring roll:

Rice paper wrappers

2 bulbs of fennel; julienned

3 medium carrots; julienned

1 cup microgreens

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

The juice of 1 large lemon

7 sprigs fresh dill; chopped

7 sprigs fresh lemon thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the fennel, carrot, olive oil, lemon, thyme, dill, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Moisten the rice paper in a bowl of room temperature water and place a small handful of the mixture in the center of the wrapper. Top with microgreens to taste. Fold and roll the wrapper making an envelope around the mixture. Seal the envelope.

To make the sauce:

1/2 cup raw tahini

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. crushed garlic

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. fresh parsley; minced

Dash of cayenne pepper

Combine the tahini, water, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a blender. Process until smooth. Add the parsley, pulsing briefly to mix. Store in sealed container in the fridge. This sauce will keep for up to 5 days.

Note: This dish can go well with multiple sauces, including what I originally made it with, the Ume Vinegar and date sauce!