Grilled Artichokes

Artichokes were a staple in my house growing up. Slowly over time they started to evolve. It started with steamed artichokes dipped in melted butter, to stuffed artichokes and then finally grilled artichokes.

We were always grilling fanatics. I remember our grill was out of commission for a month once and I almost went into a deep depression. So clearly I love anything grilled.

Grilled artichokes are great for a side dish or even better as an appetizer. Often times when you are grilling for a group of people they are waiting around for their round of food to come up. Instead of having them wait around eating chips and dip, give them some grilled artichokes to munch on and they will forget what they are even waiting for.

Artichoke Hummus

So, I’m sitting in my apartment with some girls on a sunday afternoon and its 4 o’clock. Obviously you can’t eat dinner but snacking might mess up the big meal to come and most of the snacks I make are unhealthy. Then on top of that I didn’t go food shopping yet so I was very limited in what I had in my kitchen.

What I came up with turned out to be a hit and we all attacked the bowl like animals. This is a great dip/spread to make that involves canned goods, a food processor and in my case homemade chips made out of  sandwich thins because we had no more pita chips in the apartment. What also is so great about this dip is that there is no cheese and it is veggie friendly.. great for those vegetarians or non cheese eaters

Ingredients:

• 1 Can of garbanzo beans rinsed
• 1 Can of artichoke hearts rinsed and dried
• Half of a lemon – juiced
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp.  red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicier)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor blend together and serve with chips or carrots = YUM!