Thursday, March 12, 2020

Steamed Baby Artichokes and Orange Cashew Dressing




The other day I was shopping in a specialty fruit and vegetable market, and I spotted a package of baby artichokes. There were about 16 in the plastic box and it was a product of USA. I wasn't sure how I was going to prepare them, but I thought I would give them a try.



Smaller Artichokes - my artichokes were this size 

My first and only thought was to steam them in the Instant Pot.
I looked up cooking times for artichokes, but all of the articles were for the larger full size artichokes which called for 10-12 minutes cooking time depending on size. I decided to adjust the time and guess-ta-mated that my "bebe artichauts,"as they were labeled, would need about 8 minutes. It worked perfectly. They were soft, tender, and easy to peel.

Full Size Artichokes 10-12 minutes in the Instant Pot

My History With Artichokes
Being from the Middle East, my husband's family is big on artichokes. When I first met my husband (he and his family were only in the USA three years at the time), we would join his family of six + us for eating artichokes. Each person received his/her own whole cooked artichoke. We would peel the leaves and dip the ends in lemon juice. When we got to the heart which was full of hair, we had to work to clean it and cut out the tender meaty part. Eating a whole artichoke was quite an adventure for me, an American 19 year old, who basically was raised on canned and frozen vegetables. 
See my original post on How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke ( without an Instant Pot)



8 minutes in Instant Pot 
Fast forward to today. I am a vegetarian (I was not a vegetarian until I turned age 26) and now a good part of my diet is fresh vegetables. 

Anyway, these artichokes came out divine. We really enjoyed them. You only needed to peel away about 6 leaves and it was easy to get to the center. Personally, I am fine just dipping the leaves in lemon juice. It's healthy, low calorie, and low carb. However, you may be looking for a more exciting dressing or sauce for dipping.



In that case, you could easily make a lemon butter dip, orange cashew dip (recipe below), or use one of your favorite gluten free salad dressings.




Easy Cashew Dip 
Ingredients: 
2 seedless oranges, peeled and sectioned
1/2 cup of raw cashews, soaked an hour or more (discard water) 
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

Directions: 
Combine ingredients in a strong blender until smooth and creamy

How to steam whole artichokes in the Instant Pot 

Place the trivet in the Instant Pot
Add 2 cups water 
Fill the trivet with your artichokes 
Secure the lid, close the steam valve, and set to pressure cook for 8 minutes.

What a difference a week makes.
 I went to the supermarket today to buy bananas and there were no bananas, no tomatoes, no fruit, no vegetables except a few stragglers! People were starting to hoard food, tissues, and cleaning supplies. One father told me that he had already bought and stored( over the past 3 weeks) enough food, water, medical supplies, and cleaning supplies to last him 9 months!!
Are we going to run out of food? Water? etc.?
What have you done to prep for the weeks to come!
What are your views??



Notes: 
1. This is a perfect vegetable to make on Passover (April 8- April 16 this year). It's fun to eat, delicious, and healthy. 
2. This is a perfect side to make for Easter (April 12) . It's a wonderful spring vegetable
3. Artichokes have significant health benefits including that it is high in antioxidants that help fight free radicals.
4. Don't forget to wash your hands frequently in warm water for at least 20 seconds!
See my very helpful tips on How to recognize if you have the Corona Virus. 

Shared on Beth Fish Reads on Weekend Cooking where anyone can share a food related post and anyone can visit to see what has been shared this week!





10 comments:

  1. Those fresh baby artichokes are so gorgeous! The creamy cashew dressing sounds really great and wonderful for many dishes.

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  2. Artichokes are a favorite with us also. We first ate them in France before they were popular here in the US. I don't find it that much trouble to steam them in an ordinary pot or in the microwave.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  3. I adore artichokes with melted garlic butter. That's the way my mother served them when we were kids.

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  4. Love those baby artichokes and your dipping sauce/dressing looks delicious. I went shopping yesterday and it is pretty crazy although here it's the non-perishable foods that are cleared out and (toilet paper & paper towels) but there was plenty of frozen foods & produce available right now.

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  5. Love artichokes but I have never prepared them fresh as you did.

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  6. I love the sound of your cashew dressing. It would be great on so many vegetables.

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  7. they are so pretty, but I don't think I would buy them or prepare them!

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  8. Your awesome post was featured on Full Plate Thursday,476 this week and thanks so much for sharing it with us. Hope you are having a great week and looking forward to seeing you again soon!
    Miz Helen

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  9. I am curious about the amount of time to cook artichokes. I like my artichokes soft so I cook them longer in the pressure cooker. Most people don’t show cooking the small/baby artichokes whole this is the only one I have seen with the method so thank you for sharing. I usually cook small ones about 30 minutes large ones about 40 to 45 minutes in the pressure cooker.

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