Oven Roasted Artichokes (v)

Artichokes are one of my favorite vegetables.  Sometimes my dinner consists of this: one whole roasted artichoke.  So simple, so yum.  If you are new to artichokes, don't be afraid, just be sure to snip the leaf tips off, they are sharp!  And when you get to the heart, scrape away the fibrous hairs that cover the heart; these are inedible and you will be sorry if you try.  Kind of like a cactus in a sense, so scrape it all away and enjoy that heart!!!  I used to always boil arichokes.  A process that seemed to take forever.  The roasted artichoke is so much better! 

How to oven roast an artichoke:
Preheat oven to 350.
You will need:
1 artichoke
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
lemon juice
salt & pepper
foil
Trim off the sharp points of each exposed leaf.  I use scissors for this.
Next, takle a big sharp knife and cut off the top third of the artichoke.\, and cut off the stem to make a flat bottom.
Place the trimmed choke on the foil and stuff the garlic cloves down into the artichoke.  Drizzle generously with olive oil, squeeze a little lemon juice over th eyop and wrap it all up.
Bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes.  It is done when the leave come off of the artichoke with ease.

How to eat it:
Pull each leaf off and scrape the leaf in your teeth.  You don't eat the leaf, you just scrape the yummyness off of it.  The further you get into the choke, the more edible the leaf becomes.  But beware, some of the leaves are still very sharp at the tip!  Once you get to the center of the choke, then you will want to scrape the hairy part off of the heart.  So now, after all that delicious hard work getting to the center you are rewarded with the best part of the choke.  Usually by this time my hands are covered in olive oil salt and pepper, and I scrape the bowl with the heart and eat it.  I have taken the heart and chopped it up and added it to scrambled eggs before to.  It was beyond amazing.
I love artichokes, maybe you will too!