Braised Artichokes

This dish is based on a recipe I came across this weekend in a magazine. I spent the weekend in Vancouver and read cooking magazines en route, and I came across a lot of good stuff that I could easily make paleo friendly. So there will be lots more to come in the near future!

Here is a link to the original recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Quick-Braised Artichokes and Onions

Quartered artichoke hearts, or halved baby artichoke hearts (link to how to prep after recipe)

3/4 of a bag of frozen pearl onions (defrosted)

~4 T olive oil

2-4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 c water

juice of 1 lemon

~10 mint leaves

salt and pepper

Heat 2 T oil in a pan over medium-heat until it is screaming hot. If artichokes have been in lemon water (to prevent browning) pat them dry and add to pan. Brown for a couple minutes on each side, you should get some good color here. Add a little salt and pepper. Move artichokes to a bowl, add more oil to the pan if needed, and brown the onions.

Add the artichokes back into the pan with the garlic and cook for no longer than a minute. Add the water and lemon juice, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10-20 minutes (depending on the size of the artichokes). The artichokes are fork tender when done. Remove cover, add mint, and let cook for another couple of minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

I didn't specify the amount of artichokes, because I just used what I harvested from our garden today (6 small artichokes) and supplemented with the pearl onions (because I happened to have them). If I had made a trip to the store, I would've used celery and braised that as well. As a matter of fact, I will probably make the same recipe with celery this weekend.

We ate this tonight with homemade sweet potato fries and a bun-less burger. The burger was a grilled pattie on top of a slice of tomato, with roasted garlic and avocado mashed on top.

And here is a link for cleaning and prepping your artichokes!