If you are new to Don’t Fear the Vegan, which is definitely a possibility as much as this little blog has been growing the past few months, you may not be aware of the fact that I am a working mama and my hubby, is the stay at home house master. With that being said, he does most of the shopping. The best part of him being the one to roam the grocery store is that he will often bring home ingredient that I would never dream of buying, leaving with a mission to figure out what to do with it. I love it!

A couple of years ago (whew, I wouldn’t have believed it has been that long if the blog post wasn’t dated) he brought home fennel bulb, which I had never played with in the kitchen. After reading every fennel recipe I could find, I ended up making Scalloped Potatoes which magically (well okay, maybe chemistry had something to do with it) took on a remarkably similar flavor to Swiss cheese, which in my past life I had loved! I immediately bought another bulb and created my Swissy Sauce which I then used to make French Onion Soup, something I really missed.

This blog has brought so many new people and places into my family’s life. Though we have never met most of the new friends or visited many of the places that have been introduced to us we occasionally get the opportunity to shake hands in person. The Swissy Sauce led us to a little cafe in Portland, OR called the A.N.D. Cafe when they used the recipe for one of their specials with mush success. Since then we have stopped by on a few occasions to taste their delicious food. Not to mention the people are all so nice.

Now back to the recipe. When I made the Walnut Loaf en Croute, I wanted potatoes but didn’t want to make gravy and figured I should dress them up a little. I opted for the rich flavor the fennel would give them. They came out delicious, no gravy needed!

Ingredients:
5lbs gold potatoes – Peeled and quartered
1 fennel bulb – white part only – sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegan butter
2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cashew cream

Directions:

Boil potatoes until they are tender enough to mash. Mash potatoes while hot.

While potatoes are boiling prepare fennel.

Saute fennel in oil and butter for fifteen minutes. Put cooked fennel in blender or food processor and add all remaining ingredients. Pulverize until smooth. Stir fennel mixture into potatoes. Warm potatoes and serve.