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I just steamed my first whole artichoke the other day...I love butter but wanted something "healthier"...I used balsamic vinegar and olive oil, still has some fat of course but it tasted light, tangy and delicious! Yum...now I am hungry for more!

I usually mix lemon juice and butter somewhere around 2-1 lemon juice. You can cut the butter way back to make it healthier and it still tastes great. Mixing in a little salt helps too.

I mix up some fage greek yogurt with lemon juice, and dip the leaves in that instead of butter.

OMG, I have one all steamed in the fridge for later today! They were huge, on the long stem and $2.99. Not the worst price I've ever paid for an artie.

My absolute favorite way to eat arties is stuffed. Mom used to stuff them 2 ways; a bread crumb-based stuffing and an egg-cheese-ham stuffing.

Mix together:

Bread Crumbs
Minced Garlic
Chopped Steamed Stem of Artie
Chopped Calamata Olives
Chopped Fresh Parsley
S&P to taste
Enough olive oil to make the mixture moist

Place this mixture between the leaves of the steamed artie and in the hollow center (after choke is removed). Pour enough water into the pan to come up the sides of the arties about 1/2". Bake in a 350 oven about 30 minutes or so. Enjoy one leaf at a time!

The egg-cheese-ham filling was a little trickier - you want to keep the arties kind of tight so it doesn't seep out.

Mix together:

Beaten Egg
Little dice of Provolone
Little dice of good quality Ham
Garlic (if you like)
Onion (if you like)

Spoon the mixture into the hollow center of the artie (after choke is removed) and drizzle some between the leaves. Add water to the pan (as above) and bake in 350 oven till the egg mixture is set, around 30 minutes or so.

Delish!

I doubt it's healthy, but I have an artichoke soup recipe that starts with a roux that you add diced onions to. Add steamed artichokes that have been pureed and a touch of cream towards the end.

I like them stuffed with a mix of parmesan and gremolata.