Recipe: Sunchoke-Kale Hash with Farro

Don't be scared by this recipe's name.  We had never cooked sunchokes or kale ourselves, and it was so easy!

This Sunchoke-Kale Hash with Farro recipe was named Best Grain Dish in Food and Wine Magazine's March 2013 issue (p.60).  The magazine was featuring the 20 best-ever recipes, and this one made the list, coming from F&W Best New Chefs of 2009 Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal and Son of a Gun in Los Angeles.

This is a healthy, hearty and TASTY dish despite the ingredient list that doesn't sound super flavorful:  farro, sunchokes, kale, red onion, oyster mushrooms, extra-virgin olive oil, butter, salt and pepper.

Here are some tips:

• Added garlic with the mushrooms
• Added red pepper to add a little heat
• Squeezed lemon on the dish at the end to add some brightness
• Sprinkled it with Maldon sea salt when serving

Surprisingly, we found sunchokes at our local "regular" grocery store.  Peel them like a potato and cook them per the recipe.  I just love the texture of sunchokes.

With us moving toward a plant-based diet, this recipe fits quite nicely, and we'll definitely be making this recipe again!