How to Cook and Eat Raw Artichokes

I was at the local farmer's market recently selecting some organic artichokes when a couple approached me and asked, "do you know how to work with those?" They continued to inquire about cooking artichokes, and shared their lack to know-how when it came to working with these seemingly intimidating vegetables. It occurred to me that they may not be the only people out there afraid to do anything but buy the canned or jarred variety. So, here is a quick, easy way to cook and eat artichokes.

Selecting the artichokes: what you are looking for is an artichoke that has it's leaves all tight together. You could try the looser, soggier ones if you don't have much of a selection, just be warned that they won't be so fresh.

Preparing & Cooking Artichokes:

1. Traditionally artichokes are steamed, head down, in a saucepan or pot with an inch + of water. To do this successfully, take a knife and cut off a tiny portion of the head so that the artichokes will be flat as they steam head down. All you are doing is cutting off some of the tips/pokies of the leaves, so you aren't losing any edible part of the artichoke.

2. You can put the water and artichokes, head down, in at the same time--aka you don't have the wait for the water to boil. I also like to add about a 1/2 tsp. of lemon juice to the water.

3. Next, cover your saucepan or pot (depending on how many you are cooking) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and continue to cook about 30-40 minutes. You will know your artichokes are done when they turn from bright to army green, and the leaves are very soft and malleable.

Eating the Artichoke

When manually breaking down the artichoke, there are 2 parts that are eaten: the very base of the leaves and the heart. To eat the leaves, simply tear them off and use your bottom teeth to scrape the inside bottom of the leaf. There is only a very little bit to scrape off, but it is tasty. Repeat this tearing/scraping process, often accompanied by dips of straight mayo, for each leaf.

As you get closer to the center of the artichoke, the leaves will become thinner and thinner. At this point, take a knife and cut off all remaining leaves. This will separate the leaves from the base or heart of the artichoke. As you do this, you will see what look like thistles. Don't be intimidated by this--it is merely the center of this plant. Just removes them by scraping them off with your knife, revealing the clean, meaty base of the artichoke or the heart. As done in my family, slather this part with mayo and enjoy! This is the most coveted part of the whole plant.

PS--the stems are also edible--it just depends on if you want to steam them along with your artichokes.

Happy cooking!

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