Mediterranean fennel and coconut milk vegetables

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 bulbs of fennel, medium to large
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 lemon(s) (organic), some zest and the juice
• 1 tsp rosemary, the needles of which, fresh or dried
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 75 g lentils, red or black or mixed
• some soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, neutral for frying
• some salt
• possibly pepper
• possibly turmeric or saffron

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

(at least not Asian)

Clean the fennel and cut into pieces. Grate some of the lemon zest (about a small teaspoonful) and squeeze out the juice. Finely chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, briefly fry the garlic and rosemary. Add the fennel and sauté until lightly browned. It should be slightly translucent. Then add the coconut milk. Season to taste with salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cover and cook over medium heat until the fennel is tender (I estimate this will take about 10 minutes). Meanwhile, prepare the lentils according to the package instructions. When they’re good, season with salt and soy sauce (please check the package first; the lentils will probably take longer to cook than the fennel). Serve the fennel and garnish with the lentils. We serve this with boiled potatoes, but rice would also be very good. You could certainly make it with any number of other vegetables; perhaps the sauce would look even better if you added some turmeric or saffron. Pepper would probably work too, but I’m not a big fan of it. My husband, a fennel hater and non-vegetarian, also likes it. I prepare the recipe based on my own taste, so the instructions aren’t entirely precise. Just taste it…