Love for Food

Once a month the Whole Foods Culinary Center has a free one hour cooking demo. The catch is that demo specialist lectures you the first few minutes about why it's best to shop at Whole Foods and how it is not really more expensive than other stores. I went in May and the demo's chosen where a roasted veggie wrap (from their newsletter) and Sauteed Sunchokes with Sunflower Seeds.

I don't know about you but I've never heard of sunchokes before. Sunchokes look a lot like ginger and are a root veggie with a mild taste. I was happy to add some variety in my sides, particularly a healthy one. The final product tastes kinda like a cross between a yucca and a potato. The texture is more firm and less mushy than a potato. I found the lemon really brightens up the dish. The downsides are how hard they are to find and cost. I could only find them at Whole Foods for $4.00 a pound. The end result was very good and I could not stop eating it!

Ingredients: Serves Five
2 tablespoons sunflower seed oil (I used Canola)
1 pound of sunchokes, chopped in 1/4 inch rounds (or as close as you can get)
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
salt and pepper
lemon wedge

Method:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sunchokes and saute until lightly golden brown and tender but still a bit crisp. (5 to 10 mins)
• Stir in sunflower seeds, parsley, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well and remove from heat. Garnish with lemon wedge.