Sunchoke Salad

I grew sunchokes this year for the first time. They are huge plants that kind of look like sunflowers. My plants are about 10 feet tall. The flowers are smaller & have less petals than a sunflower though. I cut the tops off & brought the flowers in. You eat the tubers, they look kind of like bumpy potatoes.

Now that it is October (ok, starting today its November) I am harvesting the sunchokes a few at a time. These are best harvested after a frost. I'll just keep going down to the garden & getting a few at a time since they don't last too long in the fridge.

Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes are rich in inulin which helps to balance blood sugar.  And they help to improve bacteria ecology in the colon.

I just eat raw food, so although they can be cooked, I have been finding ways to eat them raw. I bring them
along with a few apples when I go out harvesting herbs & just eat one like an apple. And yesterday I harvested a bunch to marinade in apple cider vinegar along with a piece of hot pepper, peppercorns, herbs, and garlic.

Freshly dug sunchokes

And some kale and a calendula flower from the garden

I sliced the sunchokes on the mandolin (carefully to keep my fingers intact) & marinaded them & the kale in lime, garlic, Bragg & olive oil.

Poured all that over the greens & added the calendula petals.