Grilled Artichokes

Its been warming up in SoCal and a great way to cook veggies and keep our house from warming up is to throw them on the grill! Grilling artichokes is our favorite way to eat them. They are tender and smoky and great with grilled chicken.

Ingredients:

4 artichokes
1 lemon
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 garlic powder

Artichokes prep: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the juice of one lemon. Trim leaves from the top of an artichoke and snip all remaining spiky tips from the outer leaves. Slice the artichokes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the choke and first few inner layers (the fuzzy parts) in the center until the bottom is revealed. As each artichoke is prepared, drop it into the lemon water to prevent it from turning brown.

When they are all trimmed and in the water, cover the pan and boil until the base of the stem can be pierced with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the grill to medium and mix the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), oregano, salt and garlic powder in a bowl. Pull the artichokes out of the boiling water and brush both sides with EVOO & spices mix.

Grill the artichokes until tender and lightly charred, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter & enjoy!

If you like to have a dipping sauce you can melt butter and zest the rind of your lemon into it and serve on the side.

Tips: Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled. Also, if you are having guests you can do all the prep and then just throw them on the grill 10 mins. before dinner!