Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction

These Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction are a show stopper! They’re so simple to make with only a handful of ingredients and are actually pretty darn healthy! Here’s to eating more veggies! 

Welcome to 2017!

I think I can confidently say, it was time for 2016 to go.

I’m sure we all had reasons why 2016 was shitty and why it was pretty darn great. I don’t want to say it was a terrible year, because it wasn’t altogether. But it just wasn’t easy.

I’ll start with the petty reasons, mainly the up and down emotions and negative body issues that come with being a new mom. In the midst of watching my beautiful baby go from barely being able to lift his own head at the beginning of last year to taking his first steps at the end, my mind swirled and raged a mini war against me.

It isn’t easy. I get that. But working so hard, trying to stay in the moment while also making “smart” healthy choices AND seeing none of it truly pay off like you wished? That’s hard. It hurts.

As much as I know I’m breastfeeding and the work I put in now is just laying a foundation that will only be visible (maybe) after I’m done with this hormonal breastfeeding stage, it’s still so hard to show up, work hard, and stay positive that it’ll all be worth it.

I call that emotional, very real stuff “petty” because the hardest part of my year definitely came towards the end of summer. My grandmother passed away. My other grandmother was hospitalized and in severe condition after heart surgery. This was the roughest season I’ve ever been through. I’ve never had to cope with such heartbreak. It affected my every moment. I still can’t believe it has been four months since that happened, because it all feels like it was just yesterday. I spent the longest days of my life flying on airplanes with Canaan, being up with him 24/7 as he failed to sleep in strange new places and I cried over the state of my life. To put a point on it, it was rough. Period.

There were many more things that compounded to put my mind in a tizzy, and I’m honestly exhausted by it all.

So needless to say, I’m ready for 2017. I’m ready to have fun and enjoy my life a little more. I’m ready to try new, big, scary adventures. I’m ready to do a little more yoga and a little less stressing out. I’m ready to remember to shower more often (hashtag mom problems). I’m ready for a new season of the freaking Bachelor to get sucked into. Who’s with me?

Let’s jump into these Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction, shall we? Artichokes are a food of pure nostalgia to me. My mom introduced them to me at a very young age and I can confidently say I was the only 7 year old telling her class her favorite food was a vegetable. They’ve always been my favorite food, hands down.

So my mom and I started going to this restaurant a few years ago (around lunch time) and ordering their grilled artichokes. And those blew my homey steamed artichokes with mayo out of the water. Pun intended. They were grilled and SO garlicy and the aioli was a garlic bomb too. Just amazing.

So that’s where these come in. I’m now ruined forever and can’t just keep my artichokes simple. BUT I assure you, these are simple to make!

You basically steam or boil the artichokes to almost done. Then you stuff garlic in their leaves and drizzle them with a glug of olive oil, roast them at a high temperature to release maximum flavor, and you’re done! No joke. THEN you drizzle them with balsamic reduction. I die.

If you don’t have balsamic reduction, run out and buy some. I’d tell you to make some, but fumigating your house probably isn’t high on your list of tasks for the day, so just go buy some. My mom found the one in the photos and we have been practically drinking it from the bottle. Worth it.

The flavors are super simple. The ingredient list is short. But these Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction are EVERYTHING. You’ll want these on your weekly menu on the regular.

Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction

2017-01-02 12:11:44

These Roasted Garlic Artichokes with Balsamic Reduction are a show stopper! They're so simple to make with only a handful of ingredients and are actually pretty darn healthy! Here's to eating more veggies! (makes 4 halves)

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Ingredients

1. 2 large artichokes, washed
2. 4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
3. 2-3 Tbs. chopped fresh garlic
4. sea salt
5. balsamic reduction*

Instructions

1. First, place your artichokes in a large pot and fill with water until the artichokes are covered. Let the pot come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat your oven to 415 degrees F.
3. When the timer goes off on your artichokes, use tongs to remove them from the water and place them on a towel to dry for a few minutes. Carefully cut each in half, head to toe (I use a towel to hold the artichoke because it is uber hot). Use a spoon to scrape the choke out (the “hairy” spines in the heart) and discard. Repeat with each half.
4. Place the halves, cut side up, on a baking tray. Drizzle them generously with olive oil, about 1 Tbs. per half. Then sprinkle them all with the chopped garlic, stuffing some of it in between leaves. Sprinkle the halves with a pinch of sea salt.
5. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the outside leaves get a bit of char on them.
6. Drizzle the finished artichoke halves with a generous amount of balsamic reduction, then serve!
7. I like to pull of each leaf and dip it into the middle of the artichoke where warm olive oil and balsamic reduction have pooled. Yum!

Notes

1. *I used store-bought (Alessi)

By melissa @ treats with a twist

Treats With a Twist https://www.treatswithatwist.com/