My parents are both from Europe, France and England. Growing up as a child we had a variety of different foods. My father was a French man who loved cheese!! The stinkier the greener the better… Ugh, but one thing I did love and that we had often were artichokes.
Artichokes are one of the most fascinating and delicious vegetables in the world. Did you know they are one of the oldest known foods?
If you have never tried them, or had no idea what to do with them I am going to help you out!
Washing & Preparing Artichokes:
Hold the artichoke, leaves pointing up, under running water. Then take them, leave side down and hit them on the counter hard. This way the leaves will open, rinse them again.
Cut off the long stem, if still attached so they will sit in a pan if you are steaming them whole, standing up. Some people prefer to trim the pointy edges off the artichoke, I leave them on.
Directions:
2 Large Artichokes
1 lemon
2-4 cloves fresh pressed garlic
Olive oil
Celtic Sea Salt
½ Cup organic low sodium chicken broth
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash artichokes. Slice each artichoke in half.
- Clean out the inside of small hairs with a spoon or knife.
- Rub the artichoke inside and out with lemon juice to help keep it green.
- Lightly coat pan with olive oil
- Place each artichoke half face down in the baking dish
- Drizzle olive oil over artichokes
- Use a garlic press and squeeze the garlic over the artichokes, I love a lot of garlic.
- Grind a touch of salt over the artichokes
- Pour chicken stock in pan.
- Cover pan with lid or tin foil.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes.
To eat:
Use your favorite natural salad dressing or homemade one and put in a small bowl. Now you are ready to eat the artichoke.
Take a leaf off, and dip the bottom portion in dressing, use your teeth to scrape off the artichoke meat.
When you get to the center of the artichoke you will find the best part!! The heart of the artichoke, make sure there are no fuzzy pieces left, take out the heart, cut it in half, dip and enjoy!
