Sunchoke and Spinach Salad
Well, that was an unexpected treat.
A very simple list of ingredients, sunchokes, spinach, salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar.
But the first ingredient, aka Jerusalem artichokes, was unfamiliar to me and proved impossible to locate within a 50-mile radius of where I live in eastern Ontario. However, one of my co-conspirators, Jerry, came to my assistance, bought some at the Saint Lawrence Market in Toronto & mailed the sunchokes to me. Thanks again, Jerry.
The sunchokes are soaked, cleaned & sliced. The baby spinach is washed, spun-dried and torn into smaller pieces. Both ingredients are combined & mixed with some olive oil, salt, pepper & red wine vinegar.
The final result. A very good simple-to-prepare salad.
What I liked about this recipe:
Sunchokes were a novel experience for me – a big plus in taking part in this project.
The combination of textures worked very well.
What I didn’t like about this recipe:
The difficulty of obtaining the sunchokes was a major issue – but not a problem with the recipe itself.
Would I make it again?
Well, actually I already have. Jerry sent enough sunchokes for another salad, which we enjoyed a couple of days after the first one.
And, more significantly, I have recently discovered that one of my brothers has sunchokes growing along a fence line on his property. I’ll plant some in a couple of months and have my own supply from now on.
I thought this was an excellent salad.
Now you’re planting sunchokes! Doug, If I ever make it to your part of Canada, I’m going to track you down and take a fun little walk through that garden of yours.
Italian settlers in the USA called the plant girasole, the Italian word for sunflower because of its resemblance to the garden sunflower (note: both the sunflower and the sunchoke are part of the same genus: Helianthus). Over time the name girasole may have been changed to Jerusalem. (Wikipedia) Sunchoke is a more recent — grocer friendly — coinage.
In Italy it’s called topinambur. Once you have a supply, Doug, try one of the cooked versions, especially the gratineed one.
This looks good Doug! I’m glad that I could help out with those sunchokes. Presumably the season is over because I can’t find them any longer – I guess I’ll need to wait until later in the fall to make this salad.