Growing up, we considered it a huge treat to have artichokes and we all loved them but mom had to make ends meet so we never got a whole artichoke….we always had to share one between 2 or even sometimes 3 of us. It was certainly a tease! And who got the heart???? We all did. Yep, we even divided that baby up.
When I moved out, one of the first things I purchased at the grocery store were artichokes. And I couldn’t wait to have a whole one to myself! Luckily I had paid close attention as to how mom steamed them so I had no problem making my first artichoke on my own. We always dipped in mayonnaise so I sat at my dinner table with my artichoke on my plate, a bowl of mayo and a big bowl for all of my leaves and I just sat in silence with my pretty green flower.
NOW ….one thing my mom did that I learned later was an easy fix, was that she left the whole leaf on so we always poked ourselves as we tried to peel away the leaves. I wonder why it never occurred to her to cut those things off! You never eat all the way up the leaf anyway, so just get rid of all the things that can hurt you …..right??? Hmmmm, I wonder if she still leaves the whole thing on? I must ask her about that.
Anyway, though I loved the artichokes steamed, I found a love of roasted artichokes when I ordered one out at a restaurant! OMG. What a game changer! My hubby has always used butter w/some garlic as his dipping preference so I started dipping in that, as well as dipping in my mayonnaise. I still can’t decide which I like more so I don’t even try — I just dip in both and enjoy! But I can tell you that I love roasting my artichokes waaaay more than steaming them! It’s really easy but taste is taken up a notch. Wrap in foil with a few ingredients and let it go.
So what’s your pleasure? The mayonnaise or butter? I got a few comments in instagram with some other great sounding dipping ideas — aioli, lemon and garlic mixed in mayo and someone even said a vinaigrette. They all would be great but I tend to think I’ll be sticking with my butter and garlic, as well as the mayo. Or maybe an aioli ……and maybe add some garlic and lemon to my mayo …..I guess at that point I should try the vinaigrette too! Who knows? But in all honesty, these artichokes when roasted with garlic and lemon, can pretty much stand on their own merit! You may not even need a dipping sauce! Let me know what’s your preferred dip – I’d love to hear from you!
- 2 medium artichokes
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (olive oil works)
- Juice of one lemon
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Prep your artichokes by cutting off the top portion of each leaf with kitchen sheers. I usually use the sheers to take off the top part of the artichoke by circling around the artichoke and cutting. Cut off portion of stem as well.
- Using a spoon, dig out the center of artichoke, taking out most of the yellowish leaves and leaving room to add a couple of garlic cloves. Spread the leaves a part as much as possible. Tear off aluminum foil for each artichoke with enough room to wrap the whole artichoke in. Lay each artichoke on their own piece of foil.
- Drizzle the avocado oil and lemon juice over each artichoke. Put a couple of garlic cloves in each cavity -- I like to gently smash the garlic before putting into artichoke to allow more garlic to permeate throughout the artichoke. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Wrap the artichokes in foil and lay on baking sheet. Roast in 425 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy!
