getting steamy…

…with a globe artichoke and fresh garlic.That sounds like a good night to me! My very first post a couple of years ago was to highlight fresh artichokes and my recipe for steaming them. It has been a long time since, so I felt the chokes deserved a come back. Not to mention they are one of my favorite vegetables. These leafy spheres are just as healthy as they are delicious. They lend a hearty (pun intended) component to pasta dishes, salads, pizzas, dips, you name it! Though I add them to many meals, I truly love them steamed with fresh garlic and lemon. I eat them as a meal sometimes or as a side with pasta. They go perfectly with a Chardonnay, and my parm garlic butter mix for dipping. Perfection!

I am going to touch back on the recipe for these as Spring and Summer are the perfect times to buy fresh artichokes. You won’t want to miss out! We know they are are crave-worthy, but they do offer us some benefits aside from butter dippage…

The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is a low calorie , low fat, vegetable packed with vitamins and body boosting benefits. Here is what our medium-size choke has to offer:

• Good source of fiber (6.5 g), protein (4g), and iron (1.55 mg)
• Good source of magnesium (72 mg), folate (61 µg), and potassium, which all benefit muscle function and heart health
• Globe artichokes are known for their support of liver health, because they contain an acid compound known as cynarin which is found within the leaves and promotes liver bile production, which in turn, breaks down fatty foods and has been said to lower cholesterol.
• Not only a boost for your liver, artichokes are a known antioxidant and possess 12 mg of Vitamin C and 3,5 dicaffeoylquinic acid, and 4,5 dicaffeoylquinic acid, which demonstrate anti-inflammatory properties.
• Last, but certainly not least, a medium choke has only 60 calories and less than 1 gram of fat.

Don’t mind if I do! And here’s how we did it…

Steamed Artichokes

with garlic, lemon, butter sauce

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Steamed Artichoke

51

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Yield: a delicious artichoke!

leaves and heart

Perfectly steamed artichoke with garlic, lemon parm butter sauce!

What to get...

• One large artichoke,
• Sea salt & black pepper (to taste),
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 smashed garlic cloves (to put in steaming pot)
• 3 chopped garlic colves (to push in between choke leaves)
• 
1 lemon, quartered (2 to squeeze over choke in pot & leave lemon rinds in pot to steam),
• 
1/4 cup white wine (pour atop choke during steaming).
• 3 cups water (for steaming)
For Dipping Sauce:
• 1/2 stick butter (soften to room temperature)
• 1 T parm cheese mix, shredded
• 2 garlic cloves chopped (will use from steaming pot above)
• Squeeze of lemon

What to do...

1. Prep artichoke by trimming stem and clipping ends of leaves with kitchen shears.
2. Pull back leaves to allow room for stuffing about 2 cloves of chopped garlic, salt & pepper.
3. Place artichoke in pot on steamer basket if available.
4. Squeeze 2 lemon wedges & the red wine vinegar over choke.
5. Steam artichoke on medium, in large pot with lid, with few cups of water, then adding: white wine, lemon rinds from 2 you squeezed, and 2 additional smashed garlic cloves.
6. Steam 1-1.5 hours, or until tender and leaves pull-away easily.
For melted butter mix:
7. In small bowl, add butter, shredded parm, lemon, and the chopped cloves of the steamed garlic cloves from artichoke pot (they'll be soft and mild).
8. mix together.
9. To warm butter mix, I place the small butter bowl into idle steaming pot turned off, with lid to melt.
10. Otherwise, you can heat butter mix over stove or in microwave briefly.
11. Enjoy artichoke leaves warm with melted butter mixture for dipping, and with a lemon wedge.
12. Once leaves are eaten, clean leaves and silk off top of heart, and dip into butter mix; it's the best part!

Notes

This is a fail-proof artichoke recipe. I love these a couple of times a week during the summer months when artichokes are in season. The steaming time will vary depending on size of the artichoke. Sometimes they cook as fast as 45 min, but mostly they take over an hour.

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http://www.dinnervine.com/2012/04/steamed-artichoke/

from the kitchen of www.dinnervine.com

The butter dip clenches it, and using the cooked garlic from the steaming pot, we add a subtle garlic element that perfectly compliments the lemon and parmesan. Tonight I had one solo, but other times I like to pair them with fresh bruschetta for a light, Italian meal. 

Get to your local farmer’s market for some fresh globe artichokes. Then get these babies into a steaming pot, for a prelude to an amazing meal, or a dinner all its own! I hope you make these a regular appearance in your kitchen, as I do in mine! Buon Appetito!