One of the recent offerings from our CSA were sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes.  Always interested in cooking something new and exciting, I quickly purchased ½ pound of these tubers and began researching just what the heck they were all about.  Similar in appearance to ginger root, the Jerusalem artichoke itself is actually a species of the sunflower whose tuber is eaten just like a root vegetable.  Very crisp like an apple when raw, the outer skin is edible and just needs a good wash before slicing.

There were a lot of great recipes out there for cooking sunchokes—all very similar to recipes involving other root vegetables; pureeing, roasting and even sautéing.  I decided on roasting the tubers that I had, along with some lovely red and green watermelon radishes, orange carrots and some scallions.  I find that roasting any type of root vegetable is the best way to enhance their flavor; I decided to add in some crisp bacon to the vegetables once roasted, and then place the mixture on top of a bed of peppery arugula.  Served with a splash of sherry vinegar, this healthy and colorful side salad was a big hit at the dinner table.  Unique in flavor, sunchokes are yet another wonderful root vegetable that when you come across them grab them and start experimenting!

(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)

Tagged: Arugula, bacon, carrots, CSA, Jerusalem artichokes, radishes, roasted vegetables, root vegetables, scallions, side dish, sunchokes, sunflower, tubers