Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke

The other day I came across this awesome list of ”Ugly Vegetables” on CNN.com. And while I pride myself in being very diverse with my cooking and ingredients I was surprised by some things on this list that I have never heard of – what the heck is a cardoon?? And a rutabaga? I’ve got to find those somewhere!!

This list also reminded me that there some vegetables that I I’ve heard of before but never tried – Jerusalem Artichoke, Broccoflower, Taro Root.

And sure enough – I was grocery shopping with my mom the other day and saw Jerusalem Artichokes!! I put them in my shopping cart right away. I was going to figure out how to cook them later.

These little tubers have absolutely nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. In fact, they are the roots of these awesome flowers! I see these flowers all over the place and think they are so pretty – I love colorful bright flowers. So now I am planning how I am going to plant these flowers in my future yard. Someday. *sigh*

Jerusalem artichokes are also often called sunchokes and also topinambour, but who wants to say that??  These things can be eaten raw or cooked – roasted, boiled, steamed, etc. I decided to roast them.

When I first bit into a piece I thought, ”hmm, really? It’s like a cross between potato and a turnip but $4.99 a pound? Not that impressed.” But then a second later I tasted the deliciousness – a nutty, complex, yummy flavor. It feels like a cop out to describe foods as nutty because SO many different foods are described as nutty, yet they all taste different and taste nothing like nuts do. But I have no other word for it – it was nutty.

So I think I will treat myself to these tubers once in a while. They are a great side and can be served instead of potatoes.

Roasted Jerusalem Artichoke

Makes: 2-4 servings. Total time: 25 minutes.

• 1 lb Jerusalem artichokes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste), ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• Optional: 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a baking pan with olive oil or non-stick spray.
2. Brush the jerusalem artichokes with a vegetable brush under water to clean them. Chop them into even 3/4 inch pieces.
3. In a large bowl, combine the chopped jerusalem artichokes, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Toss to coat all the pieces.
4. Roast them for 17-20 minutes, or until they are fork-tender. You can cook them shorter or longer, depending on how crunchy you like your veggies.
5. Sprinkle with chopped parsley leaves and enjoy!

Kitchen stuff used in this recipe:

Have you ever had Jerusalem Artichokes? Did you like them?

How about the other ugly vegetables on the list??