Of my two vegetable CSA subscriptions, I definitely prefer Mariquita Farm’s. Full Belly Farm has wonderful produce but the contents of the box are too dang small for our family. Case in point, we received five baby artichokes in our box last Saturday.
Dude, this amount is barely enough to feed me.
On the other hand, I’d be cursing them if I had a large bag of baby artichokes to trim and prepare. I guess I can always find something to whine about…
If you haven’t noticed, my favorite way to prepare vegetables is to roast them in a hot oven tossed in fat, salt, and pepper and then I spritz a bit of acid on the finished dish. Baby artichokes taste fantastic roasted but there is a little work involved to get them oven-ready.
Here’s what I assembled to feed just me:
- 5 baby artichokes
- 1 lemon, halved
- Avocado oil (or your favorite fat)
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Pepper
Here’s how I made them:
I preheated the toaster oven to 400 F. Then, I filled a large bowl with cold water and squeezed in the juice from the lemon and dumped in the spent halves. Artichokes brown as soon as you cut them so dunk them in the water as soon as you make the first chop.
I chopped the artichokes about ¼ of the way from the top…
…and removed all the tough outer leaves.
If you’re not sure if the leaf is tough, yank it out. You’re going to pop the whole thing in your mouth and no one wants to gnaw on a fiber-y leaf.
Next, I used a sharp paring knife to trim the stem and base of the artichoke of the tough skin.
I cut the trimmed artichokes in half…
…and dunked them in the acidulated water.
I drained the artichokes and tossed them with a nice glug of avocado oil, salt, and pepper.
I placed the artichokes on a foil-lined baking sheet and popped it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, flipping them halfway through the roasting.
I ate the artichokes with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
The whole thing is edible since the choke hasn’t fully matured and it’s crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. Yes, it can be kind of a pain to prepare but baby artichokes are only around for a short period so suck it up.
