Beets and Jerusalem Artichokes

As part of Abby's Trainer In Your Back Pocket program, she issues a monthly nutrition challenge. For October, her challenge was for each of us to try a food we had never before eaten. I knew instantly that beets were going to be my choice. 

I grew up hearing about beets and everything I heard about beets made me think they were totally gross. When Abby and I started this journey, we went grocery shopping to help me learn how to look for and shop for better food choices. We bought some beets because she told me how healthy they would be for me. But I never cooked them. Instead, they rotted in the bottom drawer of my fridge and I pitched them.

Challenge accepted. I bought more beets. I even looked for ones with nice looking greens so I could use those as well. When Abby and I had bought them before, the greens were all pretty pitiful looking. I used the beet greens first; just added those to some other greens (collard and turnip) I was cooking. Of course, with them all mixed together, I couldn't tell how the beet greens themselves really tasted, but that's OK. I ate them.

Then, it was time to try the beets. I washed them good, then rubbed them with olive oil, salt and pepper then wrapped in aluminum foil, just like someone told me. I'm guessing it was Abby, but she's not a cook, so who knows? The oven was set at 400 and whoever told me how to do this said it'd take 20-30 minutes. WRONG! Dern things were in there over an hour and they still weren't tender all the way through, but I was tired of waiting.

I took them out of the oven and unwrapped them. Beets are a beautiful color. When they cooled almost enough for me to touch, I attempted peeling them. Blasted things hold their heat! Finally got them peeled and my hands were stained to high heavens. Sliced the bold purple-y red balls and put them on my plate. First bite... tasted like dirt. Try again. Second bite... tasted like dirt. OK, once more--bite number three tasted like dirt as well. I swear I washed them good. Maybe beets have an acquired taste and I just haven't acquired it yet. I don't know, but my first attempt at eating beets wasn't quite successful.

However, I've purchased some more... maybe the second time is the charm.

At the Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago, I saw something interesting that Scott Enlow had; he always has really pretty and odd looking stuff. That's where I got my long, skinny Japanese eggplant this summer; also, I've purchased shallots, garlic, greens, peppers and several other things from him. But this new little nugget was sure different... it looked kind of like ginger; was very knobby like ginger, but certainly didn't smell like it. Come to find out, I was meeting Jerusalem artichokes.

You can read more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke

Scott told me they can be sliced and used in stir frys and would be similar to water chestnuts. The selling point for me, though, was that they could also be peeled and boiled like potatoes. Because the carbohydrate content of the Jerusalem artichokes is high in insulin which doesn't convert to sugar in the body and can't be absorbed, they are considered "safe" for diabetics. Hmmm.... I bought two pounds.

I cooked them four days after I bought them. I tried to peel them, but remember--they were very knobby. And, in that four days, they had kind of turned soft. You know how soft a potato can get as it ages? Very hard to peel. So were these. I decided I wasn't going to the trouble of peeling all these soft, knobby things I had bought, so I peeled about half of them, sliced them and tossed them into some greens I was cooking. If they are like potatoes, I figured, they'd be just fine. And, I guess they were. They really had no taste, except the green juice. But, to be honest, the effort wasn't worth it for me. I won't be buying them again, I don't think.

But, Abby, do I get bonus points for trying not one, but TWO new foods I've never eaten??