Curious about the best way to just eat the wonderfully nutrient-rich, challenging artichoke? I'm sharing my family's recipe for their dijon dip to eat with steamed artichokes. As always, notes and additional insight is shared at the end of the recipe. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Artichokes (3-4)
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic*
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
salt
black pepper
fresh lemon juice to taste
DIRECTIONS
This works fastest with a pressure cooker, but you can use a stovetop to steam artichokes as well. If using a pressure cooker, you'll want to sit a steamer basket in the base of your pot, and then fill with a few inches of water. I don't like to let my artichokes touch the water, but will fill as much as I can (about 1.5 inches) to ensure I get enough water. Then, just set the pressure to high and set for 35 minutes. If using a regular pot of water, again sit a steamer basket. You'll fill with as much water as you can, cover with a lid, and let it go. Expect it to take an hour and ten minutes, and add more time if you have more and larger artichokes. Using this method, I've had artichokes take up to 2 hours to be done! Artichokes are incredibly dense and fibrous, and you can tell by the cook time.
For the Dijon dip, combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until the oil and mustard have combined with a light, creamy consistency and smooth.
That's it! It's by and far the most non-recipe I think I've shared here. These artichokes are amazing--I have had them whole for meals. Keep in mind that these are packed of fiber (~6.8 grams), Vitamin K (22% of RDI), folate (27% of RDI) while affording about 4 grams of protein for only 60 calories per artichoke. Artichokes are also one of the most antioxidant-rich vegetables!
Of course, adding the dijon dip is not necessarily the best dietic move, but the healthy fats in the oils and the health benefits of garlic really are not that bad in the way of "foods with dips." Really, these are the healthiest version of "chips and dip," if you think about it. Artichokes can be expensive, but in the right season, they're truly a great value. Artichokes were special treats growing up and I'm so grateful that I get to relive those memories now with this recipe.