Asparagus Select — Spears with a vibrant color and no bruises or blemishes. The buds at the tip should be tightly close. Peak Season: March to May
Store — Remove any bands that bind the spears together and put the bases of the steams in a jar filled with 2” of water. Change the water daily to keep asparagus fresh longer. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Trim — Hold one end of the asparagus spear in each hand and bend the stalk. It will naturally break at the point where it is tough.
Recipe #35 and #36 of "the Complete Book of Raw Food" Endeavor
Asparagus Avocado Salad by Rita Romano, p. 54 Honey Mustard Dressing with Poppy Seeds by Elaina Love, p. 85
This refreshing salad combines the crispiness of asparagus with creamy avocado and tangy grapefruit.
Sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes ((They’re not from Jerusalem, and they’re not artichokes.), are the roots of a plant in the sunflower family. Sunchokes look like bulging ginger roots with many stubby outcroppings. The ivory flesh has the consistency of water chestnuts and taste slightly sweet and nutty. Select — Look for firm sun chokes that are evenly beige. They are available all year-round.
Store — Refrigerate in a plastic bag for up to 1 week. Once exposed to the air, sunchokes oxidize quickly and discolor. You can soak them in lemon water to avoid discoloration.
Preparation — Scrub sunchokes and don't peel them, all the are just below the surface of the skin.
These are the sunchokes we pulled out of our garden a week ago. They were planted about 3 years ago, each year we remember we have a crop and we start digging. No need to re-plant every year because there is always a few surviving in the ground and they do a good job at taking root. They are a bit like weeds in that sense.
Use Sunchokes as you would jicama, in salads, soups, mashed, dehydrated, the list goes on and one.
Creamy Sunchoke and Parsley Soup serves 4 ½ cup almonds 1 cup water 2 cups chopped sunchokes (approximately 3 sunchokes) ½ lemon, juiced 3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped ¼ cup chopped red onion 1 clove garlic, minced 1 small bunch curly parsley, coarsely chopped 1 teaspoon cumin 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to drizzle red pepper flakes 4 sprigs parsley
Combine almonds and water in the blender; process until smooth. Add sunchokes, lemon juice, celery, onion, garlic, small bunch of parsley, cumin and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Continue to blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to four bowls.
Drizzle with extra olive oil and garnish with red pepper flakes and parsley.
