Ahh, artichokes…the armadillo of the vegetable world, and one of my all time favorites. Hard to believe I didn’t discover them until I was almost 20 years old. It’s just not one of those veggies you see on a German dinner table. Lucky for me, my first job out of college was in the heart of artichoke country, allowing me to develop a great passion for them.
Artichokes have been around for a long time. In fact, as the story goes, the Greek god Zeus seduced a young mortal maiden named Cynara and brought her back to Mount Olympus. The life of a goddess didn’t appeal to her so she left Mount Olympus, much to Zeus’ chagrin (who quickly turned her into the first artichoke, giving us the vegetable’s scientific name). It’s a great story to share with your kids as they dig into these tasty grilled artichokes!
Pick heavy artichokes with firm green leaves.
Cut the end of the stem and then cut the sharp tips from the leaves using kitchen shears.
Cut through the middle pressing the knife down which tends to give a cleaner cut than sawing.
The fuzzy center is called the choke.
After cooking, carefully remove the choke and any small hard interior leaves with a spoon.
Baste with olive oil and season liberally.
Grilled Artichokes
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large artichokes
- 2 tablespoons plus enough to drizzle Olive oil
- 1/2 lemon
- 3 garlic cloves
- McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning great on sooo many things!
- Lemon pepper seasoning
- 1 teaspoon plus Kosher salt
Instructions
- Following above picture tutorial, wash, trim and cut artichokes in half.
- Fill large pot with enough water to cover artichokes (don't worry if they float to the top)
- Add artichokes cut side down, squeezed lemon juice (along with the used lemon half), 1 teaspoon of salt, peeled garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot.
- Bring to a boil then cover and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. (or until a fork easily pierces through the thickest part of the stem)
An undercooked artichoke will be very difficult to enjoy.
- When cooked, carefully remove artichokes and place cut side down onto paper towels to drain.
- If making lemon garlic aioli, reserve garlic cloves.
- Liberally drizzle olive oil on cut side, using a basting brush to get it into the nooks and crannies.
- Sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning, lemon pepper and a little Kosher salt.
- Place artichoke halves cut side down onto a medium to hot grill for approximately 5 minutes.
- Artichokes are ready when you have beautiful grill marks running across them and they are warmed through.
This recipe can easily be started the day before by boiling the artichokes and cleaning them, then storing in the refrigerator in a sealed container. Bring to room temperature or microwave briefly to rewarm before basting with oil, seasoning and placing on the grill.
Serve as is or with a side of Lemon Garlic Dipping Aioli...and Enjoy!
