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My husband loves to ask "what's a fennel?". Well, it's really not "a fennel". It's either "a fennel bulb" or just "fennel".

I picked this recipe specifically to introduce you to fennel, an ingredient you may be totally unfamiliar with. Part of learning to cook is trying new ingredients, and with the next few recipes you'll be doing just that.

With this recipe, you'll learn what part of a fennel bulb to use and how to trim and slice it. You'll also be introduced to lentils and you'll learn to cook them in such a manner that they are full of flavor.

I love the flavor of fennel. It's mildly sweet with a bit of licorice. I've served fennel many different ways to many people who've never had it before and they always remark on how good the dish is.

Lentils are a very nutritious legume. Other legumes include peas and beans. Lentils are high in fiber and have virtually no fat.

A friend of mine made this recipe and refrigerated the leftovers. Her twenty-something year old daughter came to visit and did her usual examination of what was in the fridge. She found the leftovers, grabbed a fork and began eating them - cold. She asked "What IS this? This is delicious!", and she proceeded to eat it all. Now this is a person who, if you had asked her, would have told you she didn't like lentils. Ha!

So don't be afraid to try new foods. And if you've tried something and didn't like it, don't be afraid to try it again with a different preparation. It really all depends on how it's cooked. I agree that plain old boiled lentils are pretty boring and tasteless. But here, the fennel, onions and carrots add a delicious flavor to the lentils, and the sausages really complement them.

Here's another recipe where I've made some changes to reduce the amount of fat. I use chicken Italian sausages instead of the traditional pork sausages.

At-Home Safe Food Handling *

* with permission from Kansas State University Research & Extension