Today's vegetable recipe: Fresh whole artichokes cooked in the microwave. Dead easy. Quick. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.
So 2008 will go down as the Year Alanna 'Got' Artichokes. When I stuffed artichokes, my friend Cindy wrote, "Your artichokes look great. But please don't tell my girls, I just throw them in the microwave."
My friend Ann, too, after an artichoke primer at our bookclub last week, "OMG!!! I bought an artichoke today and cooked it for lunch. 7 minutes in the 'wave and 10 minutes 'rest' and then I devoured it!!!!!! Wow! I will fix another one tonight!!!"
The microwave? Can dense and prickly thistles really cook in the mike? Yes, said my source of all questions about vegetable cooking techniques
. So yes, but then, how long do we cook artichokes in the microwave? In minutes! (Detail below.)Dead easy. Dead fast. Dead delicious. I've died and gone to heaven.
ARTICHOKE PRICES Just yesterday, I saw artichokes priced at both $1 each and $4 each - ouch. Plus, since more than half (by weight) of an artichoke is inedible, that makes artichokes one of the most expensive vegetables I've come across. What are you paying in your neighborhood?
MICROWAVE ARTICHOKES
Hands-on time: 3 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Per artichoke
Time to table: 10 minutes
Per artichoke
Prep the artichokes. (Don't worry, this is way easier and faster than the number of steps would indicate.)
Place in a microwave safe dish that's deep enough to hold the artichokes. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. (I used a Corning dish with a glass cover, it worked perfectly.) Place in the mike on high for --Rinse the artichokes. Even if they've been washed before, rinse again so there's some moisture.
Large globe artichokes, about 8 - 12 ounces each
Small whole artichokes, about 2 ounces each
Microwaves do vary in power so check one before serving.
To serve, tear off the leaves. Between your teeth, scrape out the fleshy part at the base of each leaf, discarding the rest. (It helps to keep a big bowl handy.) The leaves will become increasingly more tender toward the middle. Once the leaves are gone, there will be a thistly-looking center (this is the 'choke') that is not edible. With a grapefruit spoon, scoop out the choke. At its base is the artichoke's heart, a moist, dense nibble of deliciousness.
NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Artichoke, 60 Cal (2% from Fat, 23% from Protein, 74% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 7 g Fiber; NetCarb6; 0 g Sugar; 56 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 120 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point
Hmm. Does an artichoke really add up to one point in Weight Watchers? It's hard to believe, it seems like such a small volume. But the USDA's database says it does have the calories/fat/fiber to add up to one Weight Watchers point. I have also done a second check: a 10-ounce artichoke yields 4.65 ounces of edible flesh, including the heart. Since most recipes on A Veggie Venture presume that a pound of vegetables serves four, that's in the range of typical portion size. So -- okay, yes, it's not unreasonable. For zero points, share an artichoke!
TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka
Per Artichoke, 60 Cal (2% from Fat, 23% from Protein, 74% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 0 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 7 g Fiber; NetCarb6; 0 g Sugar; 56 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 120 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 1 point
Hmm. Does an artichoke really add up to one point in Weight Watchers? It's hard to believe, it seems like such a small volume. But the USDA's database says it does have the calories/fat/fiber to add up to one Weight Watchers point. I have also done a second check: a 10-ounce artichoke yields 4.65 ounces of edible flesh, including the heart. Since most recipes on A Veggie Venture presume that a pound of vegetables serves four, that's in the range of typical portion size. So -- okay, yes, it's not unreasonable. For zero points, share an artichoke!
TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from Vegetable Love
by Barbara Kafka
MORE FAVORITE VEGETABLE RECIPES
~ more artichoke recipes ~
~ more vegetables cooked in the microwave ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
~ more artichoke recipes ~
~ more vegetables cooked in the microwave ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~
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© Copyright 2008
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Your Comments:
Thanks for sharing
Joanna
BTW - a little known trick with artichokes - if you don't mind laying them on their sides (or squashing them together in your cooking vessel) you can leave some of the bottom on (I cut around the outside a bit to get the harder part off). Tastes just like the heart.
Joanna ~ From the garden? What, real people can grow artichokes?! Now that would be real heaven!
Lydia ~ I'm loving the savor process too.
Lin ~ Excellent tip, thank you!
I love artichokes... I'm guessing we'll start seeing decent artichokes in a month or so and then we can go to town. But we're going to be bad and have Hollandaise sauce for the first ones. :-D
-Elizabeth
Artichokes at our fruit market in WA are $2 each right now.
Love your blog!
Toronto Star Article: Globe artichokes in Markham (Oct 10, 2007)
Of course, it doesn't say how he has managed to do this so far north.
The article mentions that this fellow's artichokes are smaller. I really love the small artichokes - they don't seem to have a choke!
-Elizabeth
P.S. After we have our Hollandaise sauce fix, we'll switch to dipping the leaves in blue cheese dressing (blue cheese and mayonnaise) OR a simple vinaigrette.
P.P.S. We are the last people in North America who do not own a microwave oven. But I still don't think it's that tricky to cook the artichokes. All we do is cut the stem off and then set them upright in a large pot with about a quarter inch of boiling water in the bottom; cover and steam for about 20 minutes - until we can easily put a fork through the bottom of an artichoke.
Lady ~ Hmm, okay, I take it back, it IS a time/chore thing!
Darby ~ Thanks!
Elizabeth ~ Well if you can grow artichokes in Toronto, you can grow artichokes in Chicago (same latitude) which means you can grow them in St. Louis. (I love the idea of smaller ones too.) Thanks so much for the link, you always seem to "add" to the conversation, it's much appreciated.
John ~ Thanks for the info.
I did a little more reading about the "Imperial Star" artichokes the farmer just outside Toronto is growing. It turns out that they are a thornless variety! Someone (sorry, now I can't remember where I read it in the forest of artichoke links I followed) did a comparison between "Green Globe" and "Imperial Star" and said that the flavour of the Green Globe (with thorns) was preferable to the thornless "Imperial Star". I gathered from reading that both of these varieties could be treated as annuals and would produce fruits in the first year.
-Elizabeth
P.S. Thank goodness that Hollandaise is allowed! I don't know if I could say my artichoke fix was complete if it didn't involve at least one small bowl of Hollandaise. ;-)
I followed Lin's suggestion of cooking and eating the stem and she is right! Tastes just like the heart! And, the stem forms a great handle. When you are down to the choke cut the entire thing in half, then remove the choke. Presto! Grab the handle, scoop up some sauce, and guide the treat right to your mouth!
thanks again
cynthia
I love the idea of not heating up the apartment for artichokes, makes it a quick idea, not a project in my barely-cooking household.
Also, when the jumbo artichokes are on sale for a dollar at my usually overpriced local grocery, I can buy up a pile, microwave them, and freeze them!
The freezing instructions call for 20 minutes of cooking, plus 25 once they are out, so I'm guessing that 75 or 80 percent microwaved would be right for freezing, and then heating them up plus a bit longer cooking will do it for thawing. I guess I'll find out if that's gonna work, lol.
Again, thanks for this post!
This works for corn on the cob, too. Of course you zap for a shorter period of time.