Um, please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't anise and fennel the same thing?
They have the same code (4515) at the grocery store, and I've heard people use either name interchangeably.

Not so innovative, but tomato and fennel soup sprinkled with some asiago is wonderful!

Where is it in season in March?
Fennel is Foeniculum vulgare; anise is Pimpinella anisum. The bulb of fennel is the part that's usually eaten, with anise, the seeds. Angelica is another related plant.

Maybe it's the wording of the question, but someone asking for "innovative uses" when she's not sure what it is, strikes me funny.

ahleih - Anise and fennel are in the same family, but are not the same thing.

Sarah, Palmeto - Which one is which then? At the supermarkets, they sell a white bulb with celery-like stalks that end in something that looks kinda like dill. I take it that's fennel?

slice it and toss with a nice vinagearette. delicious! maybe a little shaved parm over the top. mmmm.

Simple braised fennel with olive oil is one of my favorite vegetables. The anise-flavor mellows and the vegetable melts into something soft and soothing. I think I'm craving it now...

I like cgups' suggestion. I use mine in ponzu. Slice it then and just throw it in a plate with ponzu.

As to anise and fennel, you won't generally see true anise in the supermarket. But yes, grocery stores VERY often label fennel as anise! Mine does too.

The taste of fennel isn't as anise-flavored as anise itself, though.

Make a chunky baked pasta sauce: Fennel, celery, onions, garlic (not peeled), olive oil, salt and fennel seed, roast until soft & starting to brown. Add diced tomatoes, roast more until soft. Peel & mash the roasted garlic. Toss with hot pasta & pepper.

Roasted fennel is delicious. Slice off the fronds and green stalks, then cut the bulb lengthwise into 1/4-inch or so slices so that it's still attached to itself at the root. Toss with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in a 400F degree oven til soft all over and browned in places. It's a great side dish for roast pork or chicken, and it's really good sliced up small and scattered on a pizza with fontina and prosciutto.

sliced thin with radishes and tossed with watercress in a light lemon and oil dressing.. delicious!

Thanks for all your help, everyone! I think I understand better now! <3

I LOVE juicing fennel -- bulb and stalk. Try fennel-chard-carrot juice. YUM.

That Orangette cream-braised fennel recipe is ridiculously tasty.

i second roasted fennel. so good with a squirt of lemon juice and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. after it's brown and bubbly, remove from the oven and sprinkle the green tops over. also, the bulbs and stalks are a great addition when making homemade meat or vegetable stock.

Braise it with pork and white wine. Or use it for salad. It's delicious!

I like fennel raw dipped in olive oil and sea salt.

Cut the bulb into thick slices, toss with olive oil/salt/pepper, and grill it. Oh my god. It's ridiculously good.

Good question, Brie, I'm glad you asked! Great answers too...

Slice it, bread it and fry it. Sinfully awesome - this is how my very Italian hubby makes it.

It pairs well with endive in salads. Also fab in a non-traditional vichyssoise.

I like to add the fronds to pesto for a nice dimension.

Use the stalks in stocks (say that five times fast) but you have to take them out at the end. I make an delish chicken stock in the crock pot (stock with stalks in the crock!) that's basically chicken carcasses etc, water to cover, carrots onions and fennel simmered all day. Strain it and throw away all the flotsam and jetsam. It's a great base for summer soups.

If you're growing it for the first time this season resist the urge to divide your plants. I made that mistake last season, which is why I had stalks aplenty and not so much bulb.

fennel is called arab's hair in Turkey and people usually cook it with lamb meat which end up looking like this
http://img2.blogcu.com/images/h/a/r/harikamutfak/pict2152.jpg
or like this
http://www.misssgibi.com/images/rezene.jpg
we also mix it with other greens and cook it with olive oil and some onion, fennel gives it a very nice taste. Some people cook it with some olive oil and add eggs which look like this.
http://www.hafif.org/imaj/pilli%20pati/arapsa-2-2.jpg

i've been making fennel apple bisque from sunset magazine's soups round up from a few months back. twice through the food processor and it is silky, smooth, delicious!

i made a tomato-based soup from a recipe i found in a magazine, but i dont recall which one.

it called for fennel bulb, carrot, onion sliced, sauteed with garlic, some spices & garbanzo beans. right before cooking you may add mussels & halibut or instead dress it up with manchego cheese.

i added the seafood to it and i was amazed at how easy and delicious it was.

Another vote for roasting! Simple and delicious. Fennel is one of my favorite veggies.

This soup featuring fennel, tomatoes, pancetta, chicken or turkey, and cannellini beans made me absolutely fall in love with fennel. It's the most aromatic soup, and what my boyfriend requests every time he is sick. The best part is, the flavor comes together really fast, and doesn't need to cook on the stove for a long time, like other soups.

I just started experimenting with fennel and my favorite way with it is to braise it in chicken broth with lemon, parsley, shallots, and red pepper flakes, then toss it with pasta, bacon, and parmesan. Sooo good!
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/kitchen-firsts-pasta-with-braised-fennel-and-bacon/