Something New From the Garden

The Jerusalem artichoke, also known as the sunchoke, is something new to me this year.

During fall clean up a several weeks ago, my neighbor across the street left a bag full of these alien-looking roots, for which I gladly exchanged a stalk of brussels sprouts. After the initial awe, realizing these tubers had been under Gary’s patch of tall but small-blossomed sunflowers, I asked what they were and — how you eat them.

To me, they taste like a mixture of sunflower seeds, artichoke hearts and potatoes, with a more watery texture (sometimes they’re used as a substitute for water chestnuts). I’ve only baked them so far, with potatoes, beets, onions, garlic and rutabagas — with oil and salt and pepper, of course. They can also be boiled (they cook faster than potatoes), eaten raw, or used in pickling.

Unlike most starchy vegetables, the principal storage carbohydrate in sunchokes immediately after harvest is inulin, not starch.

When consumed, inulin is converted in the digestive tract to fructose, rather than to glucose (like potatoes) so it can be tolerated by diabetics (nice). Despite the spelling of its name, though, it’s not related to insulin.

If you’re interested in growing sunchokes, try to find local stock that is suited to this area and will produce decent-sized yields. Try a small planting first to make sure the variety you have chosen is right for your garden.

To order them by mail, try Johnny’s Selected Seed (206-437-9294).

Be forewarned that these tubers are impossible to harvest completely because they are considered weeds/invasives and can proliferate uncontrollably.

I planted most of my bulbs in a separate patch last weekend, to see if they’ll do well next season. After I did that, I read that planting should be done early in the spring, when the soil can be worked more effectively. This is the season, it turns out, when you’re supposed to be harvesting your crop of chokes.

Oh well. I buried my tubers whole, in a mix of homemade compost and some questionable soil. You can also plant pieces of tubers that are no less than two ounces and have two or three prominent buds.

Put them 3- to 5-inches deep in the ground, in rows 36- to 42-inches wide with 15- to 24-inches between plants.

The crop should not be harvested until after the frost. Tubers dug later in the season are sweeter. The tops should be cut with a mower and dug up with a pitchfork, just as you would do with potatoes.

The skin is also susceptible to rapid moisture loss, so refrigerate your harvest immediately. If you keep your chokes at 32 degrees F in high humidity, they can last up to several months.

Turkey Salad With Jerusalem Artichokes

Adapted from the samcooks.com Web site. Serves 6.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 pound Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed or peeled

1 pound cooked turkey breast cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch scallions, trimmed (white and 1 inch of green) and cut into thin slices

Mix first seven ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cut Jerusalem artichokes into a combination of very thin slices and 1.5-inch match sticks. Combine Jerusalem artichokes, chicken, peppers and scallions in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Add dressing and mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving. Bring to room temperature for serving.