Artichoke addict

I figured this post should start with the picture first. Get you a little excited- or if you're a crazy artichoke fan like I am, then it's getting you super excited!

So today was one of those busy days where you have to keep going or else you will crash. You all have had those, right? Where you don't necessarily feel exhausted but you know if you stop long enough it'll sneak up on you quickly and consume you until you're rendered useless... yeah, one of those days. Fitting in workouts, showers, cleaning, meal planning, shopping, library, parks, and playing taxi driver to and from school, while settling scores between my kids alone because the hubby is out of town, there was no point in slowing down or else I'd come to a screeching halt. The evening was approaching and I began browsing the kitchen for possible dinner ideas, when my eyes crossed the artichokes a light bulb went off. However, there was a little devil on my shoulder telling me that I was too tired to mess with them tonight....but I wrestled that little sucker to ground and went to work on my artichokes. I've prepared artichokes before but I usually just steam them with oil, garlic, herbs, and lemon and then get crazy with the dipping sauce. Today however, once I got rid of that devil, the ambitious angel on my other shoulder took hold and some how convinced me to take on the daunting task of stuffed artichokes...and I am SERIOUSLY glad it did!

For those of you who have never prepped an artichoke, be forewarned that this is the hardest part. Not that it's "hard" it's just labor intensive. It took me about 10 minutes to prep the 2 artichokes for this recipe. And because I am exhausted and about to crash now (I was just too excited about this recipe to wait and write it up tomorrow) I am going to cheat and link you to a site that will show you step by step how to prep your artichoke. Check it out here. (Veto step 8, because for my recipe it doesn't require the artichokes to be pre-steemed. Then also to reduce oxidation instead of constantly squeezing lemon juice after every cut, I simplified things by just keeping a big bowl of water and lemon juice next to me and dip the entire artichoke in the lemon water every so often, and while I was working with one of them I had the other one soaking in the lemon water as pictured below)

Ingredients for stuffing:

2 cups of bread crumbs

1/3 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes (in oil, do not worry about draining the oil)

5 tbsp of a combination of marjoram & parsley (I used more marjoram than parsley)

3 tbsp of nutritional yeast (optional but it really adds a 'cheesy' affect)

1 tbsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil (just enough to moisten stuffing mixture)

Ingredients for broth:

3 c of water

3 tsp of better than bouillon vegetable base

3-4 lemon slices

Directions:

Once you've prepped and cut the choke out, so that just the "arti"remains...put the ingredients for the broth in a large stock pot to bring to a boil. While the broth is heating, combine all stuffing ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the olive oil last just until bread crumbs are moist.  All you do next is spoon the mixture into the center of the artichokes and then begin stuffing the leaves...I was surprised how much stuffing I could fit into those leaves- they expand quite a bit. Once you've stuffed them how you want them just place them in the broth, cover your pot, and allow to cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. 

Lastly, ENJOY! 

If you've never eaten an artichoke, then entire leaf isn't edible...you peel back each leaf and scrape the meat off of each petal, the closer you get to the center the more meat each leaf contains. The heart, or the center is completely edible and by far the most worth while and tastiest part. It makes all the messy, tedious petal scraping worth it! My now 3 year old daughter (as of 2 days ago) was gobbling these up too- she thought it was so much fun to peel the leaf, dip, and scrape. We were both a mess when we were through, but we had very, VERY happy tummies!

I dipped my chokes into a dipping sauce that consisted of 1/2 c veganaise (I'm not usually a fan of mayo or any fatty substitute but this was an exception), 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, curry powder, garlic powder, & pepper to taste. It was the PERFECT addition to an already WONDERFUL dish! 

Fun Facts: Loaded with fiber, Vitamin C &K, folate, magnesium, maganese, and potassium. Artichokes are often recommended to those with irritable bowel syndrome, high blood sugar levels, and high cholesterol. And naturally, like other green vegetables the antioxidants fight free radicals and certain cancers. All of that for the price of 65 calories or less- that's a steal;)

Much peace & love

Simply, Healthy, Nikki