What is a sunchoke?

Sunday is my prep day. It's the day where I get my life in order for the week. I do my laundry, grocery shopping, meal planning, cleaning, check emails... and typically, I cook. This Sunday was a little different.


It all started late Friday evening when I came home from happy hour, took a nap and woke up with a headache/sore throat combo that was enough for me to be in bed by 10pm. It persisted Saturday, but was manageable with tylenol. Today was even worse, so I forced myself to spend the day resting, which was torturous because weather was in the 60s and I'm sure all of Seattle was out to play. Needless to say, I could barely drag myself off my couch, much less to the grocery store or into the kitchen. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I'll have the energy to cook up something tasty and blog about it.


In telling people about the soup I made, I got the same question over and over - what is a sunchoke? Well, here they are. Attractive little buggers, arent they? I've been doing more research on recipes and sunchokes can be prepared almost any way a potato can - in soups, as chips, roasted - but they can also be eaten raw in salads or on sandwiches.


Also known as a Jerusalum artichoke, sunchokes are a root vegetable and a part of the sunflower family. As tasty as they are, be warned - sunchokes contain a significant amount of inulin, which can be difficult to digest in large quantities. I didnt have any issues with my soup, but after reading a few blogs, its definitely good to keep in mind.


I have these leftover from last week's trip to the market but not quite sure what to do with them yet. Stay tuned...

Sunchoke soup at 6am

What is one to do when they stay out later than planned on Cinco de Mayo, and didn't make the food they planned on for the rest of the week? Get up at 6:30am and make it anyways!

I know it sounds crazy, but I've been trying to cut back on frozen meals and eating out, and had sunchokes from the Ballard Market that needed to be used so... soup-making at 6am it is. Awesome. I did the prep work and played with the recipe to get it going quickly, then showered while it simmered, then packaged it up and off to work I went! Oddly not the first time I've made soup before work, but that's another story for another day...

Now I've never cooked, or even eaten sunchokes. They're a funny little root vegetable that look like ginger root but are rumored to taste like artichokes. I love, love, love artichokes but hate the amount of work and time it takes to both cook and eat them so was super excited to try these. The verdict? When cooked, they are potato-like in texture, but the taste... slightly more mild then artichoke hearts, YES! I wish I had discovered these earlier in the season as I would definitely like to experiment with them more.

So, the soup... even though I halved the recipe, I accidentally added the full amount of chili powder and boy you can really taste it! I calmed the kick down with some Crème Fraiche (also courtesy of the market), and the artichoke-like flavor was definitely dominant. Salted sunflower seeds helped bring out the nutty flavor but between the spicy kick and the unique flavors of cumin and coriander, the soup is almost Indian in taste. A bowl of roasted chickpeas with lemon and cumin would actually be the perfect accompaniment for a light and satisfying lunch. It's also thick - really thick - and unlike most soups, actually filled me up for most of the afternoon.

I'll keep this one on file, but next time want try making a soup with a different assortment of spices to really play on the artichoke-y flavors. More garlic, some lemon juice, maybe a little parmesan... everything you would want when eating a real artichoke...mmmmm...