Although artichokes are very easy to cook, many Americans have never tried to cook one. This is unfortunate because artichokes are very nutritious. Artichokes are high in fiber, vitamin C, foilc acid, and biotin. Vitamin A and potassium are also found in artichokes but not as high levels. There isn’t much to cooking artichokes. Here is a basic example of how to do it.
This vegetable from the thistle family does have thorns just like any other thistle. You can easily remove the thorns by cutting off the tips of the leaves with kitchen scissors. You then can cut off the top fourth to third of the small leaves. There is not much in these leaves to eat so you may as well remove them. Get a big pot of water boiling and salt well. If you wish you can also add a large slice of lemon to the water. Place the artichokes into the boiling water. You will leave these in the water until the leaves are easily pulled off this could be as long as 50 minutes. Remove your artichoke and allow to drain. I personally like to melt some butter and add some lemon juice, salt, and pepper and use this for a dipping sauce. You will be scraping off the fleshy base of the leaves using your teeth. It may seem strange at first but you will get the hang of it. Dip it into the melted butter and use your teeth to scrape out the white flesh. Once you have eaten all of the fleshy parts of the leaves you will be left with a fuzzy looking “choke”. Now you need to scrape off this fuzz with a spoon or cut it off with a knife. The fuzz is not edible. Under this fuzz is the heart of the artichoke. This is very good to eat. The stem may or may not be to your liking. This is personal preference. I personally don’t prefer the flavor. Want a fun date night food? Artichokes can be it. Take turns feeding each other. Artichokes are very nutritious and well worth the time it takes to prepare and eat them.