Nutmeg Scented Roasted Sunchokes

Have you ever had a sunchoke? They're also known as Jerusalem artichokes. I'd heard about them, but I hadn't tried them until they arrived one day, nestled in my CSA box. Interestingly, I've never seen them in our local grocery stores up here in Alaska. 

“One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls.”

— Jack Kerouac

These knobbly little fellows are one of my new favorite tubers! Sunchokes are kind of like a potato (although much less starchy), but look a bit like a fresh ginger root. Peculiarly nutty and quite sweet in flavor, they really don't taste much like a potato! 

To highlight the unique flavor of a sunchoke, I decided to roast them with a bit of salt and olive oil. Consulting the Flavor Bible, I saw that nutmeg pairs well with the sunchoke and this simple but exceptionally delicious recipe was born!

Don't they look like giant wasp bodies? *shudders* I'm sorry. You can't unsee that. That was awful of me. Never fear though, the tubers are so delicious they will rid that horrid image from your brain.

These nutty sunchokes are toasted in olive oil and simply sprinkled with salt. Laced with fresh nutmeg for hint of sweetness and warmth, they're a perfect healthy winter snack. They reminded me of those scrumptious Terra Chips! 

There wasn't any measuring used for this recipe. Story of my life. Just add salt and nutmeg to your taste preference! 

Nutmeg Scented Roasted Sunchokes

Nutty sunchokes are toasted in olive oil and simply sprinkled with salt. Laced with fresh nutmeg for hint of sweetness and warmth, it’s a perfect healthy winter snack.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

• 6-8 sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), sliced thin
• drizzle of olive oil
• dash of kosher salt
• grating of fresh nutmeg

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Scrub the sunchokes clean of any dirt. Slice them thinly and arrange on a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Not too much, they shouldn't be swimming in the oil.
4. Sprinkle with kosher salt, to taste. Grate freshly ground nutmeg over the sunchokes, to taste, not too much.
5. Roast for 20 minutes at 425 F, tossing them halfway through.
6. Serve immediately.

Dutch Word of The Day

Nutmeg --> nootmuskaat (note-mus-cat)

Good Deed of The Day

An investigation conducted by The Humane Society of the United States captured painful dental experiments on dogs behind closed doors at Georgia Regents University (GRU). Apparently these lethal experiments have been allowed to continue. Let's speak up for these dogs and bring the experiments to an end!

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Blueberries, sweet corn and toasted coconut. Some may think it's an odd combination, but I am here to assure you that it is an absolute divine marriage of flavors and texture. I'd never had polenta for breakfast and I thought it was about time. It's kind of like oatmeal for breakfast but the polenta is a finer texture of course and maybe a bit sweeter. It's fun to try new things! So, if you're bored of oatmeal try this breakfast instead and think outside the oatmeal box. When I first ditched cow's milk a couple years ago, I tried Silk's coconut milk. It was watery and bland to say the least and it made me very sad. I forgot about coconut milk and moved onto almond milk. Later down the road, of course, I began to make my own almond milk! If you want to learn how and all the lessons I found out the hard way, check out my post here.

Well, I recently decided to give Silk's coconut milk a go again. It had "Great New Taste!" slapped across the front of the carton so obvs I had to see what was up. I can't be passing that up! Boy am I glad I didn't...it was delicious! Their new coconut milk is creamy and thick, silky and very coconutty.

I don't want to know what kind of coconut-flavor additives they put in there to get it that way, because I am sure that their original coconut milk was probably more akin to the coconut milk that'd one would actually get from a real, legit, hairy coconut. Out of curiosity I looked at the ingredients and they are, " Coconutmilk (Filtered Water, Coconut Cream), Cane Sugar, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan, Yam Flour." Apparently coconut milk is one word? I don't know...is that right?? Anyways, nothing seemed to crazy. Carrageenan isn't that great, but it's pretty unavoidable if you're buying carton non-dairy milk of any type.

Regardless of how they do it...what I know is that I love the new wonderfully coconutty flavor! So, of course, it was the perfect milk to go along with this breakfast polenta. The toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch. The sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!

Wild blueberries and store-bought blueberries are two entirely different creatures. If you can get your hands on some wild ones, I think you'll find that they're delightfully tart and bursting with flavor, as opposed to their lackluster cousins at the store. They're smaller as well much less watery. Here, I used my wild, frozen berries and just popped them into the bowl! No need to thaw them out or anything like that. They're perfect as is. Oh wonders of the universe, take my back to Saturday please!

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Inspired by the wonderful The Whinery

Serves 4

• 1 cup coconut chips, toasted
• 4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
• 1 cup dry polenta
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen

To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes. The coconut should be in "chip" style as opposed to "flakes". Below are coconut "chips".

In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a  boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.

Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.

Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.

Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.

Bobby enjoyed his warm breakfast of peanut butter and puppy chow!

A wonderful and warm breakfast for a rainy, late summer Saturday.

Blueberry Breakfast Polenta with Toasted Coconut

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Katie - Produce On Parade

Serves: 4

Toasted coconut chips give a wonderful and toasty crunch, the sweet corn kernels are delightful bursts of texture and the show-stealer of this dish is of course the wild blueberries!

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut chips, toasted
• 4 cups of coconut milk (and a little extra for serving), I use Silk's Original Coconut Milk
• 1 cup dry polenta
• 1 cup sweet corn kernels
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 cup blueberries, I used wild frozen

Instructions

1. To toast the coconut chips, if already not toasted, bake at 300 F on a clean cookie baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
2. In a medium saucepan bring 3 1/2 cups of coconut milk to a boil. Add the dry polenta and whisk continually for about 5 minutes, until it's very thick.
3. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut milk as well as the sweet corn kernels. Whisk well to combine and then remove from heat.
4. Add the remaining ingredients excluding the coconut chips and the blueberries and stir well to combine.
5. Garnish each bowl with a quarter of the coconut chips and the blueberries.
6. Pour however much milk you'd like over the polenta and serve warm.

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