Jerusalem Artichoke Salad

What is it?

It is not an artichoke and certainly it doesn’t come from Jerusalem. It is a species of sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus) native to North America. It can be also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambur. It is cultivated for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable. The knobby sunchoke tubers look similar to ginger roots, with light brown skin which may be tinged with yellow, red, or purple depending on the soil they are grown in. Prime season - from October to April, and they are best dug after a light frost. So go ahead and try them, the time is now!

Beet Root Chips

Adapted from Tofu for Two

As a mom of 2,5 years old I really care about proper nutrition of my child. My toddler, however, constantly refuses to eat vegetables. No luck in smuggling greens into his diet so far. Oh, well, he is untroubled to eat my carrot cake or chocolate-beetroot cake (he is even begging for second portions of these), but let’s face it: this is not exactly the nutrition I am willing to give him on daily basis. After many unsuccessful approaches of veg-smuggling, finally a big success came unexpected - in the form of a beet root chip!

Yes, these chips make a lovely, alternative snack, easy to make and surprisingly tasty. Baking the beets in the oven instead of deep-frying makes them much healthier; they tend to shrink a lot, that’s why it’s a good idea to choose the biggest beets you have. To save energy and preserve nutrients I bake them long in low temperature, but you can try to do it faster in higher temperatures.

Moong dal pancakes

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey

Indian cuisine rocks. I love it. Such a wonderful flavors and colors! Loads of spices! Healthy, natural ingredients! Fantastic resource of inspiration for vegetarians, but not only. 

One of the staples of Indian cuisine is a broad variety of pulses, for example dried beens, peas or lentils. When I think "dal" usually it is connected with rather long cooking process. The recipe below is quite unusual, as these pancakes are made from the uncooked dal.