Make Ahead

Grilled Baby Artichokes with Mint Chimichurri

May  7, 2010
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  • Serves 2
Author Notes

I've grilled artichokes for years and then tossed them with a little olive oil and mint. Before I grill them, I boil them in aciduated water with white wine and lemon juice in order to bring a little more flavor in. But tonight, I decided to do this with baby artichokes and switch around my chimichurri sauce a bit and make it much heavier on the mint and quite a bit less of the cilantro. The result is a minty chimichurri that really brightens the artichokes. Baby artichokes are great to work with because they're much faster to prep and once you remove a few layers of leaves and get to lighter green leaves, you can cook and eat the entire artichoke. No messy choke. And no piles of leaves on your plate. —TheWimpyVegetarian

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Grilled Artichokes
  • 10 small baby artichokes
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 smashed, peeled garlic cloves
  • 1 mint sprig
  • 5-8 whole peppercorns
  • Mint Chimichurri
  • 1/3 cup mint leaves
  • 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 piece of seeded serrano pepper about 1" X 1/2 " (optional)
  • 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
  • pinch salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
Directions
  1. Grilled Artichokes
  2. Prep the baby artichokes by snapping off the first few layers of leaves until you get to light green leaves that feel much more tender. Slice off the tops and trim the bottoms. Throw into a bowl of water and lemon juice until the aciduated water is ready.
  3. Bring the aciduated water to a boil by combining the rest of the ingredients together in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Cut the baby artichokes in half and throw into the pot. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes until just tender. Remove and set aside until cool enough to handle.
  4. Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat up the grill. When the grate is nice and hot, place the artichokes on the grate, cut side facing down. Grill for about 3-5 minutes until they have little grill marks on them. Flip them carefully with long (oxo) tongs and grill for another 2-3 minutes.
  5. Arrange on a plate and drizzle the Mint Chimichurri (recipe below) over them. They can eaten warm or at room temp.
  1. Mint Chimichurri
  2. Place all ingredients except the olive oil in a small food process or blender. Process until the mixture is completely minced. Slowly add the olive oil and process until the consistency desired is achieved.
  3. Adjust taste for salt and lemon.
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