Sun chokes (the tuber of a sunflower and often referred to as Jerusalem Artichokes), are a potent pre-biotic. In a nut shell, prebiotics are un-digestible plant fiber that feed the probiotics in your gut! The more that our probiotics have to eat, the more efficiently these live bacteria work and the healthier your gut will be! Sun Chokes look like fresh ginger on the outside but are potato-like in texture once cooked. For this recipe, I boiled them until tender but firm and then smashed them and roasted them with lots of olive oil and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt. White truffle cashew aioli is the perfect accompaniment and would also be delicious with home made fries! Remember to soak your cashews for at least 2 hours prior to making the aioli!
Ingredients:
serves 2
- 1 lb. of sun chokes, well washed
- 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
- one recipe of White Truffle Cashew Aioli (recipe follows)
Pre-heat your oven to broil. Wash the sun chokes well. Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil. Add the sun chokes. Simmer until the sun chokes are tender but still a bit firm. This should take about 15 min. They should be easily pierced with a fork. Drain well. Brush a cookie sheet with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil. Lay the sun chokes onto the cookie sheet with plenty of space in-between. With a large cup or pot bottom squash the sun chokes to flatten slightly. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Broil for about 15 minutes or until crisp on the surface. While the sun chokes are broiling, prepare the aioli.
White Truffle Cashew Aioli:
- 1 cup of cashews soaked in water for at least 2 hours. Drained.
- 1/4 cup of water
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp. himalayan pink salt
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp.white truffle oil
- plenty of freshly cracked black pepper
Combine all ingredients except for the black pepper, in a high speed blender until silky smooth. Add the black pepper and adjust seasonings if desired. Top the broiled crispy sun chokes with a dollop of aioli to serve. There should be lots of aioli left over for fries, salads, sandwiches and……………
Enjoy!