Weird and spidery looking, yes, but wow these crispy little fennel chips are surprisingly delicious. I made them to sprinkle over anise-spiced squash and fennel soup, but these bad boys are delightful all on their own. I even made them a day ahead and they remained crispy-crunchy, which puts them squarely in the dinner party category. Love that.

Crispy Fennel Chips

The soup is equally delicious and a nice spin on a traditional squash soup with the addition of fennel and anise-seed.  The color also happens to be bright and fall foliagey — perfect for an autumn meal. I followed the recipe for the most part except I used chicken stock rather than water and cooked the vegetables in olive oil instead of butter. The result was a thick and silky soup that feels like health on a spoon yet tastes as if it’s pumped up with butter and cream. Yum! This would make a nice first course for a dinner party or a very satisfying dinner when topped with seared scallops and the fennel chips, which is what I did.

Anise-Spiced Squash Soup

Seared Scallops over Squash Soup with Fennel Chips

Step 1: Open a bottle of red burgundy.

Louis Jadot

Step 2: Pour, swirl, sniff and sip

Step 3: Throw mushrooms in a pan.

Step 4: Toss in red wine and sear hanger steak or skirt steak. Enjoy!

Hanger Steak with Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce

I forgot how much fun this dish is to eat. I swapped out my original plan to make it with seafood and went with the original Moo Shu pork instead. This was so easy to pull together on a weeknight — almost as fast as delivery — and much, much, healthier.

Moo Shu in the Pan

I served the pork with spring roll wrappers (actually thinner and easier to roll than Moo Shu wrappers) and all the usual trimmings: chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts, chopped green onions, hoisin sauce and hot sauce. Also served it up with a side of roasted vegetables.

Roasted Vegetables

I now fully understand why I see people at the farmer’s market hauling home trash bags full of fresh greens. Big, enormous, yard work-type trash bags. It would take at least a couple of trash bags full of greens to feed a larger family. Much like fresh spinach, even the sturdier greens cook down to nothing.

Pile of fresh greens prior to becoming horta …

Tiny bowl of horta