Sunchokes, vegetable oil, salt. Do I win the contest for the recipe with the fewest ingredients?

Previous posts about sunchokes have described them. And the beginning of the sunchoke recipes in Essentials has a wonderful little essay by Marcella on the history behind them as well as the proper way to peel them. So, I’ll just say that my task was to slice raw, peeled sunchokes thinly, then fry them in hot vegetable oil until a nice golden brown.

Remember in the ’80s when Terra Chips first became all the rage with the granola crowd? The marketing implied that because the chips were made from exotic root vegetables like taro, sweet potato, yuca, batata and parsnip they were somehow healthier than garden variety potato chips. Sandwich shops switching to Terra Chips could count on adding at least a couple bucks to the price of a meal just for the cool factor. And, truthfully, I do love Terra Chips, just for the variety – not because I think they are socially superior to plain old Irish potatoes.
As I was prepping my sunchokes, I was thinking that if Terra Chips had consulted with Marcella, they may have had an additional exotic root to add to the mix. Then I started thinking about the root vegetables I can now get at Global Foods. On any given day, I can buy fresh Lotus Root, Malanga, Maroon Carrots, Name Root, Parsley Root, Boniato, Okinawa Sweet Potato, and many varieties of potatoes and beets. I think I shall pick up a nice mix and try making some unsual chips.
Back to the Sunchokes. They are delicious. That’s all I have to say about them. And at less than $1.00 a pound, they are a bargain. We’re having our new annual MLK and Tom’s birthday gathering soon, I’m going to make a big batch and impress my sisters-in-law.