On the contrary, (a small part of) the power of Galois theory is precisely that it reduces the difficult question of finding Galois subfields to the significantly easier question of finding normal subgroups. This is the faster way :)
You should figure out what the group $G=\text{Gal}(\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2},i)/\mathbb{Q})$ looks like - for starters, we know that
$$|G|=[\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2},i):\mathbb{Q}]=[\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2},i):\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2})][\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2}):\mathbb{Q}]=2\cdot8=16.$$
What else do we know - for example, can you think of some elements you know will be in $G$? One that we know will be there is complex conjugation, which I will denote $\rho$,
$$\rho:\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2},i)\to\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[\large 8]{2},i),\qquad \rho:{\sqrt[\large 8]{2}\mapsto \sqrt[\large 8]{2}\atop i\mapsto -i}$$
Can you think of any others? Once we work out the elements and how they interact (i.e. the group structure), it actually isn't that bad of a problem to find the normal subgroups. This question may help you out, and if you're still having trouble, you could ask a separate question about how to find the normal subgroups of this particular group.
Somehow, the theme of symmetrization often doesn't come across very clearly in many expositions of Galois theory. Here is a basic definition:
Definition. Let $F$ be a field, and let $G$ be a finite group of automorphisms of $F$. The symmetrization function $\phi_G\colon F\to F$ associated to $G$ is defined by the formula
$$
\phi_G(x) \;=\; \sum_{g\in G} g(x).
$$
Example. Let $\mathbb{C}$ be the field of complex numbers, and let $G\leq \mathrm{Aut}(\mathbb{C})$ be the group $\{\mathrm{id},c\}$, where $\mathrm{id}$ is the identity automorphism, and $c$ is complex conjugation. Then $\phi_G\colon\mathbb{C}\to\mathbb{C}$ is defined by the formula
$$
\phi_G(z) \;=\; \mathrm{id}(z) + c(z) \;=\; z+\overline{z} \;=\; 2\,\mathrm{Re}(z).
$$
Note that the image of $\phi$ is the field of real numbers, which is precisely the fixed field of $G$. This example generalizes:
Theorem. Let $F$ be a field, let $G$ be a finite group of automorphisms of $F$, and let $\phi_G\colon F\to F$ be the associated symmetrization function. Then the image of $\phi_G$ is contained in the fixed field $F^G$. Moreover, if $F$ has characteristic zero, then $\mathrm{im}(\phi_G) = F^G$.
Of course, since $\phi_G$ isn't a homomorphism, it's not always obvious how to compute a nice set of generators for its image. However, in small examples the goal is usually just to produce a few elements of $F^G$, and then prove that they generate.
Let's apply symmetrization to the present example. You are interested in the field $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7)$, whose Galois group is cyclic of order $6$. There are two subgroups of the Galois group to consider:
The subgroup of order two: This is the group $\{\mathrm{id},c\}$, where $c$ is complex conjugation. You have already used your intuition to guess that $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1})$ is the corresponding fixed field. The basic reason that this works is that $\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1}$ is the symmetrization of $\zeta_7$ with respect to this group.
The subgroup of order three: This is the group $\{\mathrm{id},\alpha,\alpha^2\}$, where $\alpha\colon\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7)\to\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7)$ is the automorphism defined by $\alpha(\zeta_7) = \zeta_7^2$. (Note that this indeed has order three, since $\alpha^3(\zeta_7) = \zeta_7^8 = \zeta_7$.) The resulting symmetrization of $\zeta_7$ is
$$
\mathrm{id}(\zeta_7) + \alpha(\zeta_7) + \alpha^2(\zeta_7) \;=\; \zeta_7 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^4.
$$
Therefore, the corresponding fixed field is presumably $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^4)$.
All that remains is to find the minimal polynomials of $\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1}$ and $\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^4$. This is just a matter of computing powers until we find some that are linearly dependent. Using the basis $\{1,\zeta_7,\zeta_7^2,\zeta_7^3,\zeta_7^4,\zeta_7^5\}$, we have
$$
\begin{align*}
\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^{-1} \;&=\; -1 - \zeta_7^2 - \zeta_7^3 - \zeta_7^4 - \zeta_7^5 \\
(\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^{-1})^2 \;&=\; 2 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^5 \\
(\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^{-1})^3 \;&=\; -3 - 3\zeta_7^2 - 2\zeta_7^3 - 2\zeta_7^4 - 3\zeta_7^5
\end{align*}
$$
In particular, $(\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1})^3 + (\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1})^2 - 2(\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1}) - 1 = 0$, so the minimal polynomial for $\zeta_7+\zeta_7^{-1}$ is $x^3 + x^2 - 2x - 1$. Similarly, we find that
$$
(\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^4)^2 \;=\; -2 - \zeta_7 - \zeta_7^2 - \zeta_7^4
$$
so the minimal polynomial for $\zeta_7 + \zeta_7^2 + \zeta_7^4$ is $x^2+x+2$.
Best Answer
Let $E=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[7]{5})$ and suppose that you have another field $F$ of degree 7. Then $[F(\sqrt[7]{5}):F][F:\mathbb{Q}]\leq 14$ so we must have $[F(\sqrt[7]{5}):F]=2$. It follows that $\alpha=\sqrt[7]{5}$ satisfies an irreducible polynomial of degree 2 over $F$. There is now a general fact that states that if a polynomial $x^p-a$ is reducible over some field F for some $p$ prime, then it has a root in F. More precisely, this polynomial is of the form $(x-\zeta^i \alpha)(x-\zeta^j \alpha)=x^2 -(\zeta^i+\zeta^j)\alpha +\zeta^{i+j}\alpha^2$ where $\zeta$ is a primitive 7 root of unity and $0\leq i<j<7$ - this is because it divides $x^7-5=\prod_{i=1}^7 (x-\zeta^i \alpha)$.
You now have that $\zeta^{i+j}\alpha^2 \in F$ so by taking the 4th power you also have that $\zeta^{4i+4j}\alpha^8=5\zeta^{4i+4j}\alpha \in F$ and therefore $\zeta^{4i+4j}\alpha \in F$. We now have two options - either $\zeta^{4i+4j}=1$ but then $E=F$, or it is some primitive 7 root of unity, which then must be in $F(\alpha)$. But this means that $6\mid [F(\alpha):\mathbb{Q}]$ - contradiction.