June 14, 2012

Not Blessed Mama Cooks, Sometimes: Roasted Artichokes

You guys know I hate cooking. Hate is a strong word- but it's totally accurate. I've been cleaning all day, feeding children, dragging them places and doing errands and shopping and EVERYTHING and at the end of the day, slaving over a hot stove is not what I'm looking forward to. If I had the money, we'd be eating out all the time. I can't even lie and say I'm cooking at home to be healthier- it would be take-out every night if I could afford that shit.

WHEW! Anyway, I do cook, because my family needs to eat. Simple is best- tasty is good too. Not too long ago, I saw people mentioning roasted artichokes on Twitter. I googled a few recipes and tried it out- and oh my goodness, those things are freaking delicious. We've had them every week for about a month now. My daughter loves them- she loves them so much, she asked if we could make them and put them on my blog. She's such a sweetheart. Here they are!

These taste better if you have a little girl with dirty fingernails helping you- just FYI.

Grab some artichokes- chop off the top (about an inch) and then the stem, so they sit flat.

Drizzle some olive oil on a square of foil and put your artichoke on it. Peel the leaves open a bit if you can. The artichokes in the picture have flat leaves instead of being curled and pokey at the tip- these do not work as well, in my opinion. It's hard to get the leaves open, and the leaves were still tough and the heart was mushy at the end of the cooking time.


Drizzle some olive oil over the top of the artichoke. Then do the same with lemon juice.


Then spoon a bunch of crushed garlic over the top. Stick it down in between the leaves. Some recipes call for whole garlic cloves. I much prefer the crushed garlic because then you can eat the tasty bits with your artichoke leaves.


Throw on some salt and pepper, wrap 'em up tight, then stick those babies in a 425 degree over for about an hour and fifteen minutes. You can test one by pulling a leaf off and checking if it's tender enough. I haven't tried these on the barbecue yet, but I think they'd do great. 



Then eat! This is what the roasted artichoke looks like- nice and dark green and oh so tasty. (And this is the one with the pokey leaves.)


My husband, daughter and I have all fallen in love with these artichokes. Spawn#2 ate 3 the other night! I let her eat the leaves, and she gives me the hearts. I hope you give these a try- they're so easy to make and cannot be messed up (obviously, or I wouldn't be making them). 


And here's the little Chef making Hello Kitty waffles. I love that girl!

4 comments:

  1. Looks wonderful, but the thought of having my oven that high for that long in this heat is a deal breaker. Maybe when the weather is cooler!

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    Replies
    1. I KNOW! It was a good excuse to turn on the a/c though. I'm def going to give this a try on the BBQ, I will let you know how it turns out.

      Delete
  2. looks delish!! i love artichokes but never make them because i don't know how, and also they scare me. but I am feeling encouraged to try now!!!!

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  3. I love artichokes. It's in a food group of us own right?

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