artichokes

Greek Cobb Salad

This Cobb salad with a twist loads all of my favorite Mediterranean salad ingredients plus the best Greek marinated chicken ever into one savage salad to make a complete, healthy meal in one big bowl.

This Greek Cobb salad is like the Woodstock of salads, bringing so much to one place to deliver peace, love, and joy with a trancelike glow that makes an incredible memory for anyone who experiences it. And just like Woodstock, you too will have wished you’d been there to eat it even if you didn’t.

I heard back from so many of you on my email list where I shared this healthier turkey sausage pasta dinner, when you answered my question, do you want more healthy recipes? The answer was a resounding, YES! like this reply from reader Ann, who wrote:

“Hi I would love any help cooking delicious meals “heart healthy”. I must live a low sodium diet/low fat/etc.., but I miss all the yummy comfort foods I loved. Any help would be appreciated!!”

I admit, this mediterranean Greek Cobb salad may not be everyone’s idea of typical “comfort food”—aka fried, buttered, and gooey-leyed cheesed—but to me, anything that shines with my favorite mediterranean flavors is a comfort to my taste buds—and a whole lot healthier too.continue to the recipe… about Greek Cobb Salad

Lemon Chicken Thighs with Artichokes

This lemon chicken recipe makes juicy, bone-in chicken thighs with the Mediterranean flavors of white wine and artichokes for an easy chicken dinner ready in 30 minutes.

30-Minute Lemon Chicken Thighs with Artichokes

Easy chicken dinners are always at the top of FoodieCrush readers most requested recipe list. Healthy, flavorful, and fast to make slides right along into that list too.

Guess what friends? I’m right there with you. And if a chicken dinner doesn’t make the flavor grade, what’s even the point?

I’m happy to report, this lemony chicken thighs with artichokes recipe ticks all those fill-in-the-blank boxes and then some.

While this skillet lemon chicken recipes is an easy one to make, there are definitely a couple of tips to follow for success every time.

Let’s skillet to it.continue to the recipe… about Lemon Chicken Thighs with Artichokes

Stuffed Artichokes with Thai Shrimp Salad

Eat seasonal! Eat fresh! Eat good food! In my world that’s the mantra to live by.

While I crave ultimate comfort foods like blackened seafood pastas, the perfectly cooked steak and grilled cheese sandwiches, you’ll never find me shying away from super fresh, in-season fare that’s light on the palate but heavy on flavor.

I’ve always been a big artichoke fan. Heck, it was my second post ever on this little bloggity blog. And now…my how things have changed. I didn’t even realize I needed to post my own recipes back then, and just look at how Smudge was just a smudge!

When it comes to the green leafy orb, you could eat it the traditional route. Melted butter for tender leaf dipping. Another swath of mayo (nay to the Miracle Whip on my side of the table) and into the mouth. That’s the way most artichoke dipping begins and ends.

But we’re going lighter this time around with a rice wine vinegar seasoned Thai flavored shrimp salad to top every tender tooth-scraping artichoke leaf. We’re just going with the seasonal flow.

continue to the recipe… about Stuffed Artichokes with Thai Shrimp Salad

Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Butter and Friday Faves

This weekend is a biggie for one 8-year-old about to be 9-year-old in our house. Birthday time!

If you’ve followed be for very long, you know my daughter Smudge prefers pie over cake any day, which means I’ll be making and adorning her favorite Yellow Cake Pie with candles for the third year in a row. This year I’m going to pardon the mousse pudding mix in favor of the homemade pudding I made in Lauren’s Chocolate Cream Pie recipe mixed with some whip cream for loft.

I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a hit once again for the twelve 9-year-olds who are sleeping over. All those girls in one house, high on sugar and water slides and karaoke? Why oh why do I do this to me and my husband? Oh, that’s right. Because I’m a mom to a rock-star-lover-girl! I’d do anything for her, especially on her birthday.

Once we’ve sent the gaggle of girls home with their own parentals, it’ll be time to get the family birthday BBQ into high-speed prep. While we have a few menu ideas on the short list, we haven’t quite made up our minds as to which direction we’re going. Traditional cookout, Mediterranean or something Asian inspired? Any input here readers?

If we go for the traditional grilling route, this Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Butter recipe I created for Go Bold With Butter would be tops on the list. I made them for dinner just two nights ago since my favorite artichoke producer finally showed up in Costco.

I don’t know if I’ll ever eat a choke with plain butter and mayo again thanks to the caramelized garlicky chunks I now scoop up with each leaf. More napkins please.

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Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Butter

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

For the Artichokes
2 large artichokes
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon halved
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Lemon Garlic Butter
1/2 cup 1 stick butter
2 lemons zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Leaves from 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions

For the Artichokes
With a serrated knife, cut artichokes into quarters and cut sharp tips of leaves off. Scoop out the prickly center part of the artichoke, and discard. Immediately rub the cut side of the artichoke with a lemon half to help avoid yellowing. Place artichokes in a large stockpot filled with cold water.
Add peppercorns and garlic cloves. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water and add the leftover lemon skin/peel to the water. Bring artichokes to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes or until artichoke leaves easily pull from the head and the bottoms of the artichokes are tender.
Remove from the stock pot and drain.
Prepare a grill with hot coals or a gas grill over high heat. Drizzle artichokes with olive oil and kosher salt and pepper.
When grill is hot, place artichokes on grill and cook for 3 minutes each side or until nice grill marks appear. Remove and serve immediately or at room temperature with garlic lemon butter (recipe follows).
For the Lemon Garlic Butter
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and allow the solids to cool slightly, then skim the fat solids from the clear butter below and discard the solids. Add lemon zest, garlic cloves, kosher salt and fresh thyme and cook on medium until garlic browns slightly and becomes aromatic, about 5 minutes.
Add lemon juice to butter mixture and mix well.
Drizzle over artichokes or on the side as a dipping sauce.

continue to the recipe… about Grilled Artichokes with Garlic Butter and Friday Faves

Roasted Artichokes with Chorizo Dressing and an Artichoke Recipe Round-Up

I look forward to this time of year, all year long. That may not make sense when you read it but try saying it out loud. Loud and proud. There you go. See, it works.

With the neighbors firing up their lawn mowers for the first spring shave (as we currently sit in the midst of a snow storm) and the grasses green and the trees bloom (where’s my hay fever meds?) I find myself craving the same foods I do every spring: Fresh, clean and flavorful. Gotcha! You thought I was going to say chocolate and cheese. No, that’s every day, not just a particular season.

Flavor. That’s what makes these roasted Artichokes with Chorizo Dressing leap straight to the top of the want list.

I have a lot of artichoke recipes in my go-to recipe drawer, er, filed in my head: pasta, pizzas, with eggs and chicken. So far only Chicken Tzatziki Pizza with Artichokes, Spinach and Artichoke Grilled Cheese (come back tomorrow for another grilled cheese recipe to celebrate Grilled Cheese Month) and my second post ever, Spring Artichokes have made it to the blog.

Which leaves plenty of room to develop and share a lot more with you lucky devils.

Some of my favorite recipes are from canned artichokes—my faves are from Trader Joe’s—packed in water. Which is awesome because then I can cure the crave any time of year. But when fresh artichokes are in season? Forget about it. I’m going fresh.

While I usually hold out for the Ocean Mist brand at Costco because they are big, have tightly bunched leaves and I’ve found have the most meat on the leaf, my local store isn’t carrying them yet. So I went mini. I found these baby artichokes at Whole Foods, and bingo, they’re from Ocean Mist, so the first time I bought them I knew they’d be good. I was right.

This recipe is one I’ve kept in my piles, and I mean piles (just ask my husband who I believe is currently devising a strategic plan to rid the house of all “reference material”) of recipes pulled from magazines over the past 10 years. And even more when it comes to Thanksgiving, but that’s another season entirely so it’ll have to wait.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Artichokes with Chorizo Dressing and an Artichoke Recipe Round-Up

Spring Artichokes

photo > foodiecrush

Whenever I see a globe artichoke, I’m transported back to the drive from my grandma’s home in San Mateo to the bottom of the winding road of westbound Highway 92, on our way to have oysters at the Miramar Beach Restaurant in Half Moon Bay. Looking out the window as we cruised toward the ocean, it was easy to spot hand-lettered signs pointing the way to dirt-packed parking lots loaded with cars of traveling cooks, picking through boxes of straight from the stem artichokes.

I wasn’t a fan of artichokes back then. Too spikey, too similar in look to brussels sprouts (gag) and just way too much work to get a taste of that tidbit of meat at the end of the leaf. All the scraping for such little yield.

But soon enough I succombed to their meaty little tips and today proudly proclaim the artichoke as one of my top 5 favorite vegetables. Served with a vinaigrette as an appetizer, stuffed and braised as a main meal or simply studding a pasta or pizza, it makes no difference to me. If its on the menu, chances are I’ll order it.

Little did I know then that Half Moon Bay was the American birthplace of the artichoke, introduced by immigrant Italian farmers in the late 1800’s and in nearby Castroville. Today I can find tight budded artichokes by the same California company (although much larger now I’m sure) in my local Costco several times of year.

photo > foodiecrush

So when I walked into Whole Foods and found globe artichokes as big as my head, and at a stunning price of just $1.50 a piece, I loaded up and started searching for recipes. I knew I wanted more than just butter and mayo for my chokes, a recipe that had some girth, a recipe to do justice to those huge globes.

photo > Zen Can Cook

This recipe has some serious WOW factor, and was obviously not prepared by any average blogger. Just look at that photo. Gorgeous. Every photo and recipe on Zen Can Cook showcases the serious gastronomic background of personal chef Stephane Lemagnen, formerly of NYC’s Room 4 Dessert and now, thankfully, a food blogger. Although originally blogged for serving at Christmas, Artichoke Heart, Salmon Cream, Poached Egg, Smoked Scottish Salmon, Osetra caviar ‘s combination of simple but elegant ingredients feel perfectly springtime. Take care with the presentation and don’t get all fancy with the accompaniments. Keep it simple and serve with sliced fresh fruit and and a bottle of chilled champers to toast the perfect Easter brunch.

photo > The Stone Soup

Simple and served as a vegetarian main course, globe artichoke confit from The Stone Soup is slow cooked in an herb laced oil with leeks and topped with a lemony crumbed gremolata (not shown in photo) and served over spring time’s other happy veggie, broad beans.

photo > The Italian Dish

From The Italian Dish, Roman Style Artichokes are simply delish and with Elaine’s step by step prep details, easy to prepare. With leaves removed and a pared down choke, this traditional recipe cooked in fresh mint, parsley and garlic makes a memorable lunch or light supper when paired with a light pasta or salad and a crisp white sauvignon blank.

I’m still on the hunt for more recipes (I have 3 more chokes and I said they were huge!) so please share, what’s your fav artichoke recipe?

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