Vegan Bunny Elle

Artichokes are quite literally a nature’s wonder, packed with so many essential nutrients, plus, did you know they can perform a “sweet water” magic trick on your taste buds?

Instead of cut flower bouquets, I’d much rather get a bunch of fresh, vibrant artichokes! Well, technically, artichokes are flowers themselves. Artichokes are the large flower buds from a variety of thistle plants, which is also butterflies’ favorite feeding plant! When I lived in Texas, we had so many wild thistles in our yard, and they attracted all different breeds of butterflies and brought season-long butterfly dance shows to our window.

Artichokes are one of the top vegetable sources for fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Folate, Magnesium, and Potassium. They also have a fascinating “sweet water” effect – if you take a sip of water after you eat artichokes, the water would taste surprisingly sweet! That’s because artichokes contain a compound called cynarin, which temporarily inhibits your sweet-detecting taste buds. When you drink water afterward, the cynarin is washed away, causing the water to taste suddenly sweet

Cooking artichokes is super simple and easy and eating them can be a wonderful activity you share with loved ones.

How to steam and eat artichokes

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Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

• 4 large artichoke
• 2 lemon cut in halves
• For the butter sauce-
• 2 tablespoon vegan butter
• 2 – 3 garlic clove minced
• 2 springs of thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon squeezed for juice

Method

 

1. Use a serrated knife to cut of the top 1/3 of each artichoke, squeeze and rub lemon on the cut side to prevent oxidation;
2. Then use a pair of kitchen shears to trim off the sharp point of each leaf on the remaining artichoke; this is to prevent anyone from accidentally hurting themselves when eating them;
3. If you have long-stem artichokes, keep the stems! The inner parts are edible and sweet, you can trim them into your preferred length and steam them together with the artichokes;
4. Transfer the prepped artichokes plus the lemon halves into your steamed, bring the water to a boil and let them steam for about 30 minutes, the time depends on the size of your artichoke;
5. Once a knife can easily pierce through the stem of the artichokes, then they’re ready;
6. To prepare the butter dipping sauce, melt the vegan butter in a small sauce pan over low heat, add in minced garlic and thyme, cook in a gentle simmer for 2 minutes;
7. Pour the butter sauce into a dish, remove the thyme sprigs, add the sauce, and take the lemon halves from your steamer pot and squeeze to add a bit more lemon juice into the butter; you’ll notice that after steaming the previously squeezed lemon halves can now produce a lot more juice!
8. To eat the artichokes, fist peel off each leave on the outer layer, dip into the butter sauce, and use your bottom teeth to scrape off the meat part near the stem of the leaves;
9. Once you reach the inner layers, the leaves will become smaller and smaller, until eventually you reach the choke, which is the fuzzy, furry center, you must remove the choke part as it’s inedible and can be a safety hazzard, I find it easiest to remove with a spoon;
10. Then you’ll get the best part of the artichoke, which is the meaty, flavorful artichoke heart, enjoy the entire piece!
11. And for the stems, if you have them, peel off the outer tough layer, and eat the juicy sweet inner part.

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