Steamed Baby Artichokes and Orange Cashew Dressing

The other day I was shopping in a specialty fruit and vegetable market, and I spotted a package of baby artichokes. There were about 16 in the plastic box and it was a product of USA. I wasn't sure how I was going to prepare them, but I thought I would give them a try.

Smaller Artichokes - my artichokes were this size 

My first and only thought was to steam them in the Instant Pot.
I looked up cooking times for artichokes, but all of the articles were for the larger full size artichokes which called for 10-12 minutes cooking time depending on size. I decided to adjust the time and guess-ta-mated that my "bebe artichauts,"as they were labeled, would need about 8 minutes. It worked perfectly. They were soft, tender, and easy to peel.

Full Size Artichokes 10-12 minutes in the Instant Pot

My History With Artichokes
Being from the Middle East, my husband's family is big on artichokes. When I first met my husband (he and his family were only in the USA three years at the time), we would join his family of six + us for eating artichokes. Each person received his/her own whole cooked artichoke. We would peel the leaves and dip the ends in lemon juice. When we got to the heart which was full of hair, we had to work to clean it and cut out the tender meaty part. Eating a whole artichoke was quite an adventure for me, an American 19 year old, who basically was raised on canned and frozen vegetables. 

See my original post on How to Cook and Eat an Artichoke ( without an Instant Pot)

8 minutes in Instant Pot 

Fast forward to today. I am a vegetarian (I was not a vegetarian until I turned age 26) and now a good part of my diet is fresh vegetables. 

Anyway, these artichokes came out divine. We really enjoyed them. You only needed to peel away about 6 leaves and it was easy to get to the center. Personally, I am fine just dipping the leaves in lemon juice. It's healthy, low calorie, and low carb. However, you may be looking for a more exciting dressing or sauce for dipping.

In that case, you could easily make a lemon butter dip, orange cashew dip (recipe below), or use one of your favorite gluten free salad dressings.

Easy Cashew Dip 

Ingredients: 

2 seedless oranges, peeled and sectioned

1/2 cup of raw cashews, soaked an hour or more (discard water) 

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

Directions: 

Combine ingredients in a strong blender until smooth and creamy

How to steam whole artichokes in the Instant Pot 

Place the trivet in the Instant Pot

Add 2 cups water 

Fill the trivet with your artichokes 

Secure the lid, close the steam valve, and set to pressure cook for 8 minutes.

What a difference a week makes.
 I went to the supermarket today to buy bananas and there were no bananas, no tomatoes, no fruit, no vegetables except a few stragglers! People were starting to hoard food, tissues, and cleaning supplies. One father told me that he had already bought and stored( over the past 3 weeks) enough food, water, medical supplies, and cleaning supplies to last him 9 months!!
Are we going to run out of food? Water? etc.?
What have you done to prep for the weeks to come!
What are your views??

Notes: 

1. This is a perfect vegetable to make on Passover (April 8- April 16 this year). It's fun to eat, delicious, and healthy. 

2. This is a perfect side to make for Easter (April 12) . It's a wonderful spring vegetable

3. Artichokes have significant health benefits including that it is high in antioxidants that help fight free radicals.
4. Don't forget to wash your hands frequently in warm water for at least 20 seconds!
See my very helpful tips on How to recognize if you have the Corona Virus. 

Shared on Beth Fish Reads on Weekend Cooking where anyone can share a food related post and anyone can visit to see what has been shared this week!