Jerusalem Artichoke (LOCAL)

• grown by Brenda Knechtel in Wellesley

The sweet-nutty-crunchy qualities of sunchokes can be put to good use in an amazing number of ways. My favorite way to eat them is raw — shaved thinly in a salad, with a drizzle of olive oil and a blanket of Parmigiano-Reggiano. (But that’s a little too easy — what vegetable doesn’t taste good like that?)  When I prepare sunchokes raw, I usually leave the skin on, but for cooked preparations you may consider removing the skin with a swivel-blade peeler or paring knife (the skin tends to toughen when cooked).

Raw sunchokes also make nice toss-ins to salads, and are crunchy enough to be made into slaw. They can be sliced and roasted like potatoes, sautéed or made into a delicious gratin. The French are famous for a creamy sunchoke soup, but the tuber is also good simply pureed (peel first) and mixed with cream and butter, like mashed potatoes.