How to get the innerHTML of selectable jquery element?

I have a php generated list whose list items are selectable using jquery selectable widget. The list for all intents and purposes is:

<ul id="#select-image">
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 1</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 2</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 3</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 4</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 5</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 6</li>
    <li class="ui-widget-content">Item 7</li>
</ul>

And the jQuery selectable is declared as:

<script>
    $(function() {
        $("#select-image").selectable({
            selected: function( event, ui ) { 
                var $variable = $('.ui-selected').innerHTML; 
                console.log($variable);
            }
        });
    });
</script>

An event takes place after a list item has been selected, in the example it outputs to the browser console. The output however is "undefined." The selector $('.ui-selected'). is correct as it shows as an object in the browser's console. Where am I going wrong?

Try

.text() or .html() instead of .innerHTML