Baby artichokes are adorable - just like any tiny vegetables, But besides the cute factor, the practical benefit is that baby artichokes don't have a choke - that fuzzy, inedible center that you find in mature artichokes. That means they're easier to prep.
They also cook a lot faster because they're so small.
And the baby purple artichokes I got from Frieda's Specialty Produce were ... well, purple. It's a pretty stunning color. You lose most of that purple when you trim off the inedible parts, but before you do that, they look really pretty.
Even without the choke to remove, there's still a bit of cleaning that needs to be done, particularly if you want to use them in a salad like this one - you don't want to give people something with tough, inedible leaves.
The trimming basically involves removing all the inedible parts - the tough leaves and the tips. If you've never cleaned an artichoke befroe, you can be a little bit conservative with the trimming at first, then finish trimming after the artichokes are cooked, since it's a little easier to tell which parts are tender and which are tough after they're cooked.
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If you like, you can simply steam the artichokes and serve them warm with a little lemon olive oil, but I like the idea of a cold salad. It's a great little nibble.
The olives here are kind of interesting. They're a green olive, but they're ripe, so they taste a lot like black olives. Give them a try if you ever see them at your local store.
Artichoke Salad
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1 pound baby artichokesAcidulated cold water (water with a squeeze of lemon juice or a sprinkle of Fruit Fresh or Real Lemon powder)
1 tablespoon Sciabica Mission Sping Harvest olive oil
1 onion, large dice
1 red pepper, large dice
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
1 can Lindsay Naturals green ripe olives
1 tablespoon Sciabica lemon olive oil
Remove the tough outer leaves from the artichokes, trim off the tough tops of the leaves, and cut the artichokes in half, and drop them into the cold water - this acidulated water keeps the artichokes from turning brown on the cut edges.Steam the artichokes (I like to add a bit if lemon juice to the steaming water, but it's optional) until the artichokes are tender - about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside. (If you find that you missed any tough bits, you can do a little more trimming now.)
Heat the Mission olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion, pepper, salt, and oregano. Cook, stirring as needed, on gentle heat until the onion have softened - you don't want them to brown, just soften. Add the cooked artichokes and olives and cook for another minute.
Remove the vegetables from the heat, add the lemon olive oil, and stir to combine. Transfer to a storage container and chill. Taste for seasoning before serving and drizzle with more lemon olive oil, if desired.
Serve chilled.
The olive oils I used in this recipe came from Nick Sciabica & Sons for the purpose of creating a recipe fpr the blog group 37 Cooks. For more information about olive oils, see this post.
The olives came from Lindsay Olives for a previous promotion; the artichokes from Frieda Specialty Produce. I was under no obligation to post about them.
