Today I felt like one of those kids who plays hookie, but then gets really spoiled. Granted I stay home and work from my kitchen every day, but today I really felt naughty. Yesterday I somehow hurt my foot, and can barely walk. I have been limping all over the place and am trying to take it easy. So for lunch, I made this dish of Spaghetti with Sunchoke Sauce with anchovies, capers and tuna. It was so divinely delicious that I found myself licking the plates and pots shamelessly. It reminded me of when I was little and would stay home sick from school. I would always get to eat macaroni and cheese on those days, because it was my mom’s only allowance of junk food. I would eat the whole thing and lick everything to my hearts content.
My special dish today was not junk food at all, in fact it was incredibly healthy. I made a puree of boiled sunchokes with anchovies and lemon juice, and then mixed it with the pasta cooking water to give it a creamy consistency. Afterwards, I added about 1 teaspoon of capers and water-packed tuna fish, and stirred it all together. It was one of the best things that I have eaten in a really long time. I bought sunchokes at the farmers market the other day. They were extra bulby, and so I asked the farmer the best way to peel them. His advice to me was “don’t”. My training makes me want to peel everything, but if I had tried to peel these sunchokes there would have been nothing left. I cut them up into even pieces and boiled them with the skin on. Sunchokes have the flavor of artichokes, but with a much more creamy consistency- it is like eating the pure heart. I added the capers and anchovies for their salty flavor, and the tuna to give it some body. It was so simple, yet I feel soooo much better!

This weekend we will be doing demos at two different Greenmarkets. On Saturday we will be at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, demonstrating how to make sauteed grapes with rosemary. It is a great warm up for Fall, and is perfect as a topping for crostini. On Sunday we will be at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket, doing a demo for a September Peach Salsa with all of the great veggies of the harvest. Here is a photo of a salsa I whipped up today to whet your appetite. We hope to see you all out there buying up the September abundance!