Grilled artichokes — where have you been all my life?

Artichokes were always a  treat when I was a kid growing up in my Italian-American corner of Brooklyn. But I never imagined WASPs and others eating them. Today, though, they seem to be everywhere, on one restaurant menu after another.

I’ve enjoyed grilled artichokes at several places but never tried making them that way myself until this past July 4th. What took me so long? I loved, loved loved them, thanks t this recipe I found at AllRecipes.com

The recipe is a simple one, in terms of ingredients, which is great for my low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet.

First, leave out the salt as always. The rest — olive oil, lemon juice, garlic — are all favorites of mine. I cut my artichokes in half and dipped them in the mixture of ingredients. I was worried they wouldn’t get a garlicky flavor but then definitely did. I used minced garlic I had handy, so some small pieces of the garlic actually got in among the artichoke leaves.

It as incredibly flavorful and easy to make. Rather than precook them in boiling water as the recipe suggests, I used a steamer for 15 minutes which accomplished the same function of precooking them..