Favorite Food: Artichokes

Hey Long + Lean Pilates fans, and happy 2015 to you! One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to try a new recipe every week, including foods that I may not be very familiar with in the kitchen! As part of this journey, the Long + Lean Wellness Blog will feature one awesomely healthy food as our Favorite Food of the Month. We will then share a new recipe for that Favorite Food each week to help you incorporate it in to your diet.

Photo via artichokes.org.

Starting off the Favorite Food of the Month series is the humble artichoke! The artichoke is definitely underrated, and since it’s often dipped in butter or aioli, people tend to forget that it has some awesome nutritional benefits. Keep reading to find out what’s so fabulous about artichokes and how to prepare them easily TODAY!

Why we love artichokes:

Low in calories and fat! There’s just 60 calories for one medium artichoke, and less than 1 gram of fat and yet….
Artichokes are full of dietary fiber, giving you 14% of your daily recommended fiber intake
Great source of folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin K, and B-complex vitamins
Artichokes provide you with a healthy dose of the antioxidants and minerals your body needs such as potassium, copper, iron, and calcium
They’re so fun to eat!

Easy Artichoke Preparation:

Start eating artichokes with a super simple preparation like boiling them! Here’s how…

Cut off any nasty thorns from the outer leaves (optional)
Cut off the end of the stem, leaving about 1 inch remaining. Some people do eat the whole stem but it tends to be bitter. If you want to try the stem, just cut off the very end of it and peel the tough skin off before cooking.
Rinse under cold water.
Fill a pot with water. You can add whole garlic, lemon slices, and/or a bay leaf to the water for additional flavor if desired.
Place the artichokes in the pot in one single layer.
Bring the pot to a boil and continue cooking for about 35 minutes. When they’re done, you should be able to peel the leaves off easily.
Remove the artichokes and allow to cool slightly then go ahead and enjoy!!

Artichoke Tips:

Don’t eat the whole leaf! Once cooked, peel one leaf off at a time and use your teeth to scrape off the soft flesh at the base of the leaf. You can also eat the heart of the artichoke that becomes exposed once all the leafs have been peeled off (Artichoke hearts, YUM!)
When you get to the heart, make sure to scrape away and discard the fuzzy stuff, that’s not so great to eat.
For optimal healthy eating, try eating these with just a touch of salt, like you would with edamame or some extra lemon instead of dipping in butter. Or maybe just dip every other leaf in butter. 😉

Did you know?

“Artichokes can also be made into an herbal tea. “Artichoke tea” is produced as a commercial product in the Da Lat region of Vietnam. The flower portion is put into water and consumed as an herbal tea, called alcachofa in Mexico. It has a slightly bitter woody taste.” – Wikepedia

Check in to the blog next week for a fun and delicious artichoke recipe!!