Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)

Really. They're delicious. Perhaps it is the case of anything roasted with enough olive oil and salt will taste good, but I think there is something more to these little nuggets. They are not as starchy as a potato, sweeter and a bit more moist in texture, kind of like a water chestnut-kholrabi-rutabaga-potatoish thing, but they too become supreme when roasted at high heat. They're in the markets now, so be brave and take home a bag full.

Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)

some Jerusalem Artichokes, rinsed with water and scrubbed with a vegetable brush

olive oil

sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Dry the sunchokes in a clean kitchen towel and cut them into quarters, or smaller pieces if they are really large and gnarly. You want pieces about the same size so they will roast at about the same rate.

2. Place the cut sunchokes on a cookie sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden brown on the outside and tender when you poke with a fork.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• Jerusalem Artichokes are the tubers from a type of sunflower, hence their other name, “sunchoke”, which seems to make a bit more sense to me, since they are neither artichokes nor from Jerusalem. There you go. Sunchoke.
• Be careful not to go too hot or too long in the oven, as the sugars in these will caramelize and burn more easily than roasted potatoes.
• Serve with brown rice and a green veggie. If you’re not a vegetarian, these are fantastic as a side for lamb. (Thanks, Betsy!)

Green Thai Dressing

There is much to learn from the creativity going on in the vegan and raw culinary worlds. But you don’t have to be 100% vegan or raw to appreciate it. This creamy, spicy-sweet dressing is delicious over a crisp salad of shredded napa cabbage, carrots, sliced snap peas and julienned red and orange bell pepper. (See Elaina Love’s Pure Joy Kitchen, for some great raw food inspiration.)

If you want to go all-out, do what I did with some friends when we improvised a meal based on my latest

“experiment”. Open a nice bottle of white wine, sautée some prawns in more green curry paste, garlic and ginger, place the prawns on top of the salad then sprinkle on a few salted cashews. This just might be the way people “turn” vegan. Oops. Except for the prawns.

Green Thai Dressing
makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for several salads
1 cup coconut water (I like Zico brand)

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro stems and leaves

6 tablespoons tahini

2 medjool dates, pitted

juice from 1/2 fresh lemon

2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon green curry paste (I like Thai Kitchen brand)

1. Place cilantro and all other ingredients in the workbowl of a food processor or powerful blender (i.e. Vita Mix) and purée. Store tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Keeps for a week.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• This dressing is at its best when used on crisp veggies of high water content -- that is why I like the bell peppers, snap peas and cabbage. Feel free to experiment with others. Fresh water chestnuts, cucumbers, even asparagus would work well.

• I like to peel the outer skin from bell peppers before I eat them or cook with them. This is easiest done after you chop the bell pepper into manageable pieces rather than trying to peel it whole. Speaking of manageable pieces, my life changed after a chef taught me how to cut up these things. Start by slicing off both ends, stem and other side. Cut the remaining, somewhat cylindrical, core piece in half and you have two manageable pieces to work with that are little rectangles after you slice out the seeds. Easy!

Navy Bean Soup

The thought of this soup simmering away in my friends’ Boston brownstone on a snowy winter day inspired me to gather the ingredients and get a version cooking out here in rainy California. The guidelines below are starting points, but a soup like this is very forgiving -- have fun with it! The only essentials are getting the beans cooked and seasoned to your liking. Enjoy.

Slow Cooker Navy Bean Soup
serves 8

1 pound dry navy beans (approximately 2 cups); you need to soak these. You can choose from 2 methods, one overnight and one that takes about an hour before you can start the slow cooker cooking.

12 ounces bacon, sliced into 1/4 inch batons (I like Neiman Ranch applewood smoked)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic mashed with 1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder

1. Prepare the beans for soaking. Put the beans in a large bowl and rinse the beans under running water, filling the bowl and pouring off the water a few times. Fill “bean bowl” or stock pot with water once more, this will be your soaking water. Water should cover the beans by at least 3 or 4 inches. Remove any floaters.

Choose one of the following:

Overnight Soak

Set the bean bowl in the fridge overnight. The next day, dump the beans into a colander and discard the soaking liquid. Beans are ready to cook.

Quick Soak

Put the beans into a large stockpot and fill the pot with water to cover the beans by 3 - 4 inches. Over medium high heat, boil the beans for 1 minute then turn off the heat, cover the pot and let beans sit for 1 hour.

2. Brown bacon in slow cooker insert on top of stove (or in a frying pan). Remove bacon to a plate, drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the onions and garlic. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes, until softened.

3. Add the spices to the onions and stir with a wooden spoon. Move the slow cooker insert from stovetop to the slow cooker. Add the soaked beans, cooked bacon and 6 cups water (or enough to cover the beans by about 1 inch). Cook on “high” setting for 4 hours.

4. Taste soup for seasoning, adding sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and/or olive oil, for serving, if you wish.

Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips

• Instead of slow cooking, you can simmer this soup on the stovetop for a couple hours.

• Substitute your favorite adobo seasoning mix for the oregano, cumin, chipotle and garlic powder -- I haven’t tried it, but would guess 3 teaspoons would be a good start for the amount.

• If you prefer a smooth texture for the soup, puree all or part of the beans using an immersion blender, or carefully transfer some of the cooled soup to a regular blender.

• Leftover transformation #1: Serve the beans under a piece of grilled fish or meat. Add some sauteed greens and you have a completely different meal.

• Leftover transformation #2: Add a can of chopped organic tomatoes (14.5 oz.) to some the leftover bean soup. Simmer on the stovetop to combine flavors.