Healthy Highlight: Sunchoke

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It is great to get a refresh on some of the nutrition benefits from everyday foods, but sometimes it is even better to hear about something we don't eat everyday, or ever, and how we should add it to our diet. This past snowy, windy weekend was full of laundry, cleaning and cooking shows and an ingredient that caught my eye was the Sunchoke. A sunchoke is part of the sunflower family, and though they are also called Jerusalem Artichokes, they are nothing like the artichokes we know. Sunchokes look a lot like a ginger root with a starchy consistency (like a potato) but when they are cooked, they taste much like chestnuts. Take a look:

  • Rich in vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, iron, and potassium
  • Sunchokes are great for gut health. They are rich in inuline fiber which feeds your gut good bacteria and keeps your gut in balance
  • Their high potassium levels help with heart health and may help to reduce blood pressure
  • The richness in iron in sunchokes help increase energy as well as immunity.
  • Sunchokes also help balance blood sugar which keeps you from having brain fog, mood swings, anxiety, and poor focus.

Recipes:

Smashed Sunchokes with Thyme Butter (Seriouseats.com)

  • 1 pound Sunchokes, rinsed and trimmed of any dark spots
  • Kosher Salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon Canola or other Neutral Oil
  • 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • Large pinch freshly picked Thyme Leaves
  • Flaky Salt, for serving
  1. In a medium saucepan, cover sunchokes with 1 inch cold water. Season generously with salt (the water should taste nicely salted, as if you were seasoning soup). Set over high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until paring knife inserted into a sunchoke meets little resistance, about 10 minutes; be careful not to overcook.
  2. Drain sunchokes using fine-mesh strainer or colander. When cool enough to handle, place sunchokes on work surface or cutting board. Working 1 sunchoke at a time, use the bottom of a heavy skillet to press firmly on each sunchoke until it is flattened but still in one piece; take care not to press so hard that the sunchokes break apart.
  3. In a large cast iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add sunchokes in a single layer and cook without moving until well browned, about 3 minutes. Flip sunchokes, then add butter to the pan and allow to melt. Add half of thyme to the melted butter and continue to cook, spooning butter over sunchokes, until browned on the second side, about 3 minutes longer.
  4. Transfer sunchokes to a serving plate and spoon the thyme butter on top. Garnish with remaining freshly picked thyme leaves and sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve immediately.

Sunchoke Soup (Simplyrecipes.com)

  • 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
  • 1 cup chopped Onion
  • 2 stalks Celery, chopped
  • 2 large cloves Garlic, chopped
  • Salt
  • 2 pounds Sunchokes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 quart Chicken Stock
  • Black Pepper
  1. Sauté the onions, celery, then garlic: Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium-high heat until melted. Add the onions and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Do not brown them. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Sprinkle with salt.
  2. Add the sunchokes and stock: Add the sunchokes and your choice of stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer, covered, until the sunchokes begin to break down, 45 minutes to an hour.
  3. Purée the soup and serve: Using an immersion blender or upright blender, purée the soup. If using an upright blender, fill the blender bowl up only to a third of capacity at a time, if the soup is hot. Hold down the lid while blending. Alternately, you can push the soup through the finest grate on a food mill, or push it through a sturdy sieve. Add more salt to taste.
  4. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper before serving.

Creamy Ginger Scalloped Sunchokes (Boulderlocavore.com)

  • 2 cups peeled, sliced Sunchokes
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream
  • 3 tablespoons freshly grated Ginger
  • 2 large cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup dried Bread Crumbs
  • 1/4 cup diced Pecans
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 1 quart casserole or gratin dish.
  2. In a saucepan combine sunchokes, ¾ cup PLUS 2 tablespoons of the cream, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Let cook 5 minutes once hot to combine all flavors and soften the sunchokes.
  3. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream with cornstarch; stir to fully combine. 
  4. Add to sunchoke mixture in saucepan and continue to cook 5-8 minutes (over medium-low heat) longer until the mixture begins to thicken.
  5. In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs and pecans and stir to fully mix together.
  6. Spoon the sunchoke mixture into the prepared baking pan. Cover the top evenly with bread/pecan mixture.
  7. Place the baking dish of sunchokes in a larger roasting pan. Fill with hot water to reach halfway up the side of the baking dish to create a water bath.
  8. Bake until done when top becomes golden brown; about 20-25 minutes. NOTE: if the topping begins to over brown, place foil on top and continue cooking.