Heres a lovely recipe that will put a spring in your step and not take more than 5 minutes to throw together, a lovely healthy energy booster.

Chocolate Brownies

No bake, gluten free, lactose free, no added sugar!

1 cup almonds (roasted or raw)
1 cup dates (fresh or dry)
2 tbsp yacon syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla essence or a few seeds from a vanilla pod
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup shredded coconut

METHOD

1.Using your processing blade in your food processor add all the 1 cup of almonds and process on high for one minute until it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Keep the processor running and drizzle in 2 tbsp of yacon, 1/4 tsp vanilla
3. While still running add 1 cup of dates one at a time while processor is on high speed, or process until the mix starts to stick together. Approx 1 min
3.Add 1/2 cup cocoa, and process until well mixed. approx 30 sec
4.Tip into dish (8″ or 20cm square or round), and lightly press to even thickness
5.Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded coconut over the top and press firmly into dish until even and dense.
6.Cut with a sharp knife into wedges or bars and serve!

I have begun potting up yacon in my wonderful new growing shed and have started planting out into a garden bed which we will mulch so no late frosts set them back.

The yacon crown’s on TradeMe are going out at a great rate of knots so I am not the only one gearing up for summer.

Here is a lovely little tapas, entree or light lunch made using the crunchy sweet raw yacon. Equally nice as a vegetarian option or with other lightly cooked strips of beef or chicken.

Prawn & Yacon Summer Rolls

250g or 1 average Yacon Root
5ml Lemon Juice
250ml Water
250g of fresh other vegetables
eg. beans, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, sprouts
250g of cooked prawns(warm or cold)
6 rice paper wraps

1) Peel and Julienne, or trim all vegetables to create even stick like proportions.

2) Peel and Julienne the yacon root and place in a bowl with the water and lemon juice (Yacon oxidises or goes brown; putting it in water and lemon juice keeps its colour)

3) Assemble by placing the rice paper wraps in warm water as directed on the pack until they are flexible(but not falling apart!) place prawns, yacon and a selection of your vegetables on the wrap and fold in an open envelope style as pictured.

4)Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.

Stir-fried beef (or mushrooms) with chinese greens and yacon.

Preparation time 10minutes, cook time 10minutes, serves 4

INGREDIENTS

300g rump steak, sliced thinly and fat removed
2 tbsp sesame oil
50g garlic finely sliced
50g ginger finely sliced
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame seed white
2 tsp sesame seed black
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp yacon syrup
3-4 cups chinese greens cut coarsely(bok choi, pak choi, misome, tat soi) or substitute with onions, broccoli, celery, kale, or cabbage
250g yacon peeled and sliced diagonally into strips (place in water and lemon juice so it doesnt brown)
2 med hot chillies (red or green)
2 tbsp cornflour
1/4 cup water

METHOD

1. Stir-fry ginger and garlic in sesame oil over med to high heat in a wok or frypan until brown
2. Add sesame seeds and salt,stir-fry for a further 1 min
3. Add meat and stir-fry until just brown about 2 min (should still be quite rare)
4. Add soy sauce, rice wine, fish sauce and yacon syrup, mix to combine.
5. Add yacon and combine quickly before adding greens and chillies
6. Put lid on and steam greens until just cooked
7. Mix cornflour with water and add to the sauce to thicken.
8. Serve immediately with rice and add extra chilli or spring onion to serve.

VARIATIONS
Use mushrooms instead of meat.
Stir in noodles instead of serving with rice

In this recipe we use yacon syrup, dark soy sauce and sugar to come up with a uniquely satisfying and balanced meal.  The lemon juice in our organic yacon syrup gives the tang the tamarind usually does and the yacon means we can reduce the amount of sugar in the dish.

Seeing as pork is one of my favourite meats, this has become a regular dish in our house. The pork falls to pieces in your mouth and the hot, sweet ginger chilli sauce is a great winter warmer. Here is a version based on Rick Steins recipe.

Slow-cooked Pork with Ginger, Chilli and Yacon

Preparation time 15min, Cook time 2 hours

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 100g shallots (or onions if you dont have shallots) thinly sliced
• 50g garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• 25g ginger peeled and finely grated
• 500g lean pork shoulder cut into 3cm chunks
• 4 tbsp yacon syrup
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp brown or muscavado or palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 star anise
• 3-4 medium to hot chillies (chopped, leave seeds in if you like it hot!)
• 500ml of chicken stock*

METHOD

1. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat
2. Add the shallots and fry until richly golden and soft
3. Add the garlic, ginger and 1/2 tsp salt and cook for 1 minute
4. Add the pork to the pan and fry for 2 minutes until lightly coloured
5. Add the remaining ingredients and leave to simmer uncovered for 1.5hrs, stirring now and then especially at the end of the cooking time until meat is tender.
6. If sauce is not thick, dark and syrupy remove pork(keep warm) and reduce further until it is glossy and rich.
7. Season and serve with crispy fried shallots and hot bird eye chilli, on rice or noodles.

VARIATION

*For a richer sauce add coconut milk instead of part or all of the stock.

Warm Thai Chicken Larb Slaw

Preparation time 15minutes,
Cook time 10 minutes

 Dressing
¼ cup lime juice
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs sweet chili sauce
1 tsp finely grated lime rind/ or kaffir lime leaf cut in thin strips

Larb
1 tbs peanut oil
500g chicken mince
1 stem lemon grass (pale section only) finely chopped
1 fresh long green chili, finely chopped

 Slaw
1 large carrot julienned
1 yacon root (approx 250g) julienned and set aside in water with lemon (so it doesn’t brown)
1 green mango (optional) julienned
½ small red onion
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/3 cup fresh mint (vietnamese if you have it)
At least 4 small cup shaped cabbage leaves
¼ cup roasted peanuts finely chopped, to serve

METHOD

1. For the dressing whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime rind (or leaves) until well combined.
2. Heat ½ the oil in a wok to a high heat (just smoking)
3. Add half the mince, lemon grass and chili and stir fry, breaking up any lumps, for 3-4 minutes until just cooked. Set aside and keep warm.
4. Repeat with the second half, ensuring wok is reheated to just smoking. Return both mixes to the pan
5. Add the carrot and yacon, and stir fry briefly for 1 minute to warm.
6. Drizzle the mince mixture with the dressing, adding the mango, onion, coriander and mint stirring to combine just before serving
7. Serve in cabbage leaves with a sprinkle of peanuts on top.

 VARIATIONS

For a summer/cool slaw leave the mince mixtures to cool down for at least 15 minutes, add the dressing and remaining ingredients and toss to combine before serving in lettuce leaves with peanuts on top.

Serve warm or cold in rice-paper wraps

 Use pork mince, prawn pieces or fish instead of chicken.

In the Waikato they are yet to flower. A splash of yellow from the neighbors bush hanging over the fence tricks me into wandering down the back to the Yacon patch. The plants are vibrant, green and robust. We don’t find any natural pest for the Yacon plants. They grow unperturbed by drought or rain, a real easy care plant!

Look out for the frosts though, or soil that gets water logged.

The frost will knock back the tops like a potato and you run the risk of rot setting back into the tubers under the ground. We usually cut the foilage off and keep them stored underground. A protective layer of mulch is a good idea to keep them insulated, and to identify where they are for harvesting.

The tubers/roots dont like sitting in water either; they will rot. As long as they are in a free draining soil the yacon roots will keep in the ground for 4-5 months.

I cant wait to taste the super crunchy and sweet tubers again this year!

We have moved our site to wordpress for information and on our Sales & Contact page there is a link to trademe.co.nz where our yacon is listed for sale.

We have moved back to the village block at Ngahinapouri, and look forward to seeing our regulars from the Waikato again.

Nothing else has changed, we are as always happy to answer your questions so give us a call, send an email, tweet or comment on our facebook wall.

Todd and Wendy