Sprout & Pea

Arti­chokes have been a long time favorite veg­etable of mine and there’s no bet­ter way to enjoy them than steamed with a great side sauce.  Grow­ing up, when most kids begged their mom for mac and cheese for din­ner, I would beg mine for steamed arti­chokes.
It was def­i­nitely the sauce she’s always served with it that made me an addict (par­ents, take note: this might be one way to get your kids to eat veg­eta­bles — it worked for me  when I was a kid).  For din­ner tonight, I decided to make the mayo-​​free health­ier ver­sion of this sauce by sub­sti­tut­ing greek yogurt.  It may not have been exactly like my mom’s, but for a healthy dip, it came pretty close and def­i­nitely hit the spot! Arti­chokes also pack a long list of health ben­e­fits.  They rank high on anti-​​oxidant count and have been found to help in cur­ing liver dis­eases.  Appar­ently they’re good for hang­overs and make your skin glow too.  You can read more about the ben­e­fits of arti­chokes in this great arti­cle on The Epi­curean Table.

They’re also one of the most beau­ti­ful foods…even after they’ve been devoured…

Here’s how to pre­pare the arti­chokes and sauce.…

To pre­pare the arti­choke, cut the bot­tom stalk off and cut about an inch off the top of the arti­choke (this helps to remove the prickly leaves at the top and opens the arti­choke up to allow for bet­ter steam­ing). Using a scis­sor, trim the pointy tops of the remain­ing leaves on the arti­choke so that the top of each leaf has a flat edge. Trim­ming these is impor­tant so you don’t prick your­self when remov­ing and eat­ing the leaves. Place the whole artichoke(s) on top of steamer in a pot of boil­ing water (water should come up just over steamer). Place lid on pot allow­ing for some steam to get out and let steam for about 45 min­utes. Using a pair of tongs, try remov­ing a leaf from the out­side and inside of the arti­choke. If both come off eas­ily, the arti­choke is ready.

Sauce:
2 large spoon­fuls of 0% greek yogurt
1 large spoon­ful of dijon mus­tard
1/​2 small shal­lot minced
Juice of 1 lemon
sprin­kle of adobo or sea­son­ing of choice
dash of tabasco sauce

Com­bine all ingre­di­ents in a small bowl and mix well together. This makes enough sauce for about 2 to 3 arti­chokes depend­ing upon size.