Guess what I Discovered?

..."I can't believe it's not butter" CAN be used for the butter dip with your cooked artichokes! And it's good -really! (We also recently used it with crab legs and it worked too.)

Buy artichokes that are as tightly closed as possible and the darker the green the better too. Like a flower, once the leaves start opening up they aren't as fresh and the leaves get tough. The secret is the boil - this gives the choke the flavor, then you can dip in the "butter" and not miss the fat.

The 'Choke

Just trim the end a little the stalk is actually eatable and very good like the center. If you want to trim the top you can but I usually don't bother.

The Boil

Big pot of water (pot should have a lid). Add the following to boil 4 chokes.

4 bay leaves
1 T cracked black pepper
4 gloves unpeeled garlic
1 t sea salt
Sprig Rosemary
1 c chicken stock (non-fat, low sodium please - you can use bullion cube for ease)
1 lemon cut in half

You want to boil them until you can very easily pluck a leaf off. It can take 45 minutes if they are big - or only 25 if small. You have to check-but they must be tender!

WW - this is almost point free!