Grilled Artichokes with Spicy Lemon Aioli

Grilled artichokes with spicy lemon aioli, rosemary steamed Colorado new potatoes and lemon pepper flank steak pinwheels.

At my last hair appointment while waiting on my color to process my stylist Charisse asked “Have you ever grilled artichokes?”

“No,” I answered. “I’ve always just thrown them in a pot of boiling water for about 45 minutes and served them with a simple mixture of mayo and curry powder for dipping.”

Adding, “I don’t make them very often because once I’m done with the leaves, I make such a mess dissecting the rest of it…I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted.

Charisse returned “I’ve tried grilling them a couple of times and they’ve come out tough”.

So out came the iPad and we Googled “grilled artichokes”. Don’t you love technology and the fact that you can Google something at the drop of a hat? Of course we found several techniques and recipes which offered us plenty of salon chair quarterbacking opportunities.

“Well that’s not enough cooking time!” Charisse noted about the first result and I agreed.

“Mmm…that sauce sounds good.” I commented on the next.

“Is that an artichoke???” We laughed at the next photo.

“King Soopers was out of artichokes the other day blaming Costco for buying up the whole shipment!” Charisse complained.

“Grill on high???” We scoffed at a plate of charred chokes from the next recipe.

“Did you hear Tom and Katie are getting divorced?” Charisse asked.

“I wonder if it has anything to do with religion?” I speculated.

“Time to rinse,” ordered Charisse and that was that.

Now that I’ve got you on the edge of your seats…  🙂 That evening at home I continued my research, chose instructions that I thought made sense and promptly bought artichokes the next day. The recipe told me to quarter and clean the artichokes before cooking. I was bound and determined to learn how to “clean” and lo and behold the first Googled result was a You Tube video by our very own Chef Mick from Tony’s Market.

Grilled Artichokes with Spicy Lemon Aioli

Easier than you think. Just quarter the artichokes after prepping. Boil them in salted water for 15 minutes. Removed and drain the excess water.

Drizzle them with olive oil and grill over medium heat for 20 minutes turning every once in awhile.

Served them with this spicy lemon aioli for dipping. It was outstanding. We were totally impressed and surprised at the smoky flavor that the artichokes soaked up from grilling. Thanks to Charisse, I’ll be grilling many more.

Grilled Artichokes with Spicy Lemon Aioli…They’re What’s for Dinner.