Roasted Fennel and Tomato

One bulb is not enough for more than one person and the while some of the more thinly cut slices were charred instead of caramelizing, it still tasted pretty decent for a side dish. It is sad to see that our state considers this plant to be a noxious weed and prefers to use herbicide to eradicate common fennel than to allow people to harvest it for free. Seriously, all public lands management would need to do is post an alert saying that there's a free vegetable that people can harvest and it would all be picked; of course that would also encourage visitors to pick all the other native plants that managed land and state parks have.

Ingredients

One (or more) fennel bulbs, washed and cored
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp olive oil + more if needed, for roasting
handful of whole grape or cherry tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp organic sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Slice fennel bulb(s) in half and take out the core. Thinly slice the bulb as you would celery or any root vegetable.

2. Toss fennel with garlic, salt, sugar, lemon juice, tomatoes, and olive oil.

3. Arrange fennel in a glass baking dish (I used a 9" x 13") and bake for 30 minutes. Check the oven after 15 minutes and stir the vegetables around.

4. Remove from heat and serve on a plate, as a condiment or side dish for another entree.