Grilled Artichokes with Easy Aioli

organic artichokes....such a treat

Did I mention before how much I love the Cheesecake Factory? It is my all time favorite "junk" food source. But, not everything they have on the menu is all that bad in terms of health. CF has a way of making good stuff taste like it's bad for us! Love it!  I had their grilled artichokes a few months ago and have been craving them ever since. Well, thanks to some researching and deducting, I think I have found what makes them taste so amazingly decadent. We rarely find organic artichokes, so when we do, we buy them up. Pricey? Yes! Worth it? Yes!

The artichoke's meat is at the base of it's leaves, but don't forget the heart! It's the best part!

You will need your BBQ for this one. But if you are living where it's too cold to BBQ, you could try roasting them in your oven instead. I haven't tried roasting them, so if you do, please tell me how it goes! Just make sure to follow the same directions up until the BBQ part if you decide to roast yours.

Need:

2-4 artichokes (how much do you LOVE them?)
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves fresh, minced garlic
1 tsp. sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Put a large pot of water on high heat to boil, meanwhile: fill a LARGE bowl with cold water and juice from ONE of the lemons (save lemon rind). Halve the artichokes (carefully!) and submerge into the bowl of lemon water. When water on stove is boiling, carefully place artichokes into pot (with long tongs) and add the lemon rinds. Boil for 20 minutes uncovered.

Boil, uncovered for about 20 minutes, taking care not to boil too much or the leaves will start to fall off

Heat Grill on high (or oven at 450 degrees F).

Empty the lemon water from the bowl to use for tossing drained artichokes with the last HALF of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  

Toss boiled artichokes with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then grill

Turn grill down to medium heat. (If using oven, roast in middle of oven, keeping an eye on them, turning once and basting every few minutes until charred)  Grill artichokes,  turning once and basting every 5 minutes until artichokes start to char. Remove from heat and serve with amazing aioli dipping sauce (recipe below).

The charring you see adds a layer of amazing flavor!

Easy Aioli:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 cloves fresh, minced garlic
juice from one lemon
1 tsp. sea salt
cracked black pepper

Mix together and enjoy with artichokes

Tastes great with any meal or all alone!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with dipping sauces

A quick, easy, delicious treat for everyone

I like to think of this dish as fancy french fries (and healthier). As for the dipping sauces, well, at least I know mine don't contain garbage ingredients! This can be enjoyed as an appetizer, side dish, or anytime snack. Pretty versatile and super duper easy.

Need:

1 1/2 lbs. organic fingerling potatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
3 Tbsp of your favorite healthy oil
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp freshly ground pepper

Toss well to coat each potato

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss ingredients together in a large bowl then lay on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper). Roast in oven for about 45 min. or until golden brown. Serve with your favorite dipping sauces. Below are a few suggestions:

Roast for 45 min. or until golden brown

Garlic Aioli:

1/4 cup real mayonnaise
2 cloves freshly minced garlic
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Mayo:

1/4 cup real mayonnaise
1-2 Tbsp of Sriracha (or your favorite hot sauce)

BBQ Ketchup:

1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp chili mix/blend powder seasonings
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brown sugar

Experiment with different dipping sauces!

Have fun with this delicious treat!

Best way to wash your produce

Several years ago (geesh, I have been starting out a lot of blogs that way lately....a sign that I truly AM getting "old"), before most grocery stores had a "Natural and Organic Foods" section, before the internet (did I really just write that?) and the age of information, I had a friend. This particular friend was a nurse. She was sweet as pie and to date, she is the only person I have ever attempted making sushi rolls with. I was just at the beginning of my conscious eating stage at this time. I remember having a conversation with her about organic verses conventional produce. The talk must have become slightly heated because I do not remember anything in detail about the conversation except the part where she looked at me rather annoyed and said with slight disgust, "Well, I DO peel the skins" meaning from her conventional produce. This was her way of telling me that she felt the skins carried all the pesticides and it is easy enough to get rid of the chemicals by peeling the fruit or vegetable. I stopped talking at that point-and quickly changed the subject.

gorgeous carrots soaking in peroxide with water

The easiest way for me to articulate how pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals infiltrate fruits and vegetables is to imagine a white carnation flower in a vase. Fill the vase with water and several drops of red food coloring. Not long and the white carnation will be pinkish-red. The water is absorbed into the stem and continues into the outermost edges of the flower. The same process happens with farming and cultivating produce, except often there is an added process with applications of outer spraying or dusting. What the fruit or vegetable is grown in, becomes part of itself, throughout. It is not just an outer layer, for most fruits and vegetables, that is affected.

Colored water is absorbed throughout the flower

It is well known that the skin of most fruits and vegetables carry with it most of the nutrients and fiber that makes that particular food healthy (assuming it is organically grown). By choosing to eat organic, one can eat the skins without worry, and the whole apple for that matter!

Even though 95% of the produce I bring home is organically grown, I still put it through a rigorous wash. One never knows how many times an apple has been touched, dropped on a floor, etc. It's a good measure to take.

Pile O' produce needing to be washed!

Here is my regime, my husband LOVES to help me do this after our Whole Foods bi-monthly trip (she writes facetiously):

1 large bowl of ice water and 1/2 cup of hydrogen peroxide

1 large bowl of ice water and 1/2 cup of white vinegar

large strainer

paper towels

produce storage bags (mesh, paper, plastic)

Do all your produce at the same time, to save on time and water. Start with the "cleanest" items that have edible skins, like your apples, pears, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc. Using the same water as you go for each item(s).  Dip in the hydrogen peroxide bath first, for 10 min., then on to the vinegar bath for 10 min. Rinse with plain water, dry, then place in most appropriate bag for freshest storage (potatoes in paper, apples in mesh bag, cucumbers in plastic, etc.) By this stage, you might have very slightly dirty water, but plenty clean for the next round of produce such as potatoes and produce with non-edible skins (melons, bananas, avocados, citrus fruits, etc.)

Take off any stickers, then start with cleaner produce first

All these rules drive my husband bananas- no pun intended- but when we spend our hard (ok, his) earned money and drive 2 hours round trip to get beautiful, organic produce, there is protocol to follow to ensure that our efforts and money do not go to waste.

So here are some "rules" to follow: Do not clean the following fruits or vegetable until you are ready to prepare them:


1. strawberries - can get mushy quicker if water sits in between berries
2. raspberries - almost always get mushy within 24 hours if wet
3. asparagus -tips get wet, then slimy quick
4. mushrooms -brown, bruised and slime quickly after washed
5. onions -don't need to be washed, the skins keep 'em clean
6. only clean lettuces and leafy vegetables (including herbs) ahead of time if you plan on getting out the salad spinner- and make sure to put some paper towels in with the washed lettuce as it helps keep it fresher, longer with less wilting/spoilage

Usually the lettuce sold in bulk (not in sealed bags or plastic clam shell containers) are the freshest, buy them when you can!

After soaking lettuce in peroxide & water, then vinegar & water, rinse well and, in batches, spin out the water

Prepare a new, clean bag, with clean paper towels inside and clipping the top closed. This helps keep the lettuce crisp and fresher for longer.

2 bags of fresh, clean lettuce ready for the fridge!

Soak and clean potatoes as all other produce, then let or pat dry before putting into paper bags

Ready for whenever I want to use them!

The beauty of it all is when I reach in the fridge,  for the night's meal preparation, and everything is sparkly clean and ready to be used! It's also great for the kiddos to grab an apple or a carrot and just go.

"USDA Organic"- what you get when you buy Organic in the U.S.A.

In my recollection of when I first started to buy organic food (a little here and there, then built my way up), it was pretty expensive compared to it's conventional (meaning non-organic) counterparts. Supply and demand surely came into play and organic farmers were more small time, not backed by huge companies such as "Hain". Therefore, I paid, you paid, we all paid more for our organics a decade ago. Nothing pleases me more than when I find USDA organic foods as cheap, if not cheaper, than conventional foods.

What I have found over the years is that not all organic foods are created equal. Imagine that? I have talked to several who don't "believe" in organics (I always say it's my religion) and convincing them is like trying to convert a Catholic to a Mormon-or vice versa.

I grew up in the Mormon religion, I can poke fun at it.

When discussing organics with a non-organic consumer, it can get touchy, like religion or politics. Trying to sell my own children on why organic foods are better (when clearly McDonald's chicken nuggets are the best food on earth) was difficult. I had to figure out how to explain to them that organic is not a flavor.

Once, a dear friend of mine told me that she had "tried an organic apple once" and "didn't like it". Ok, well, I have had movie theater popcorn, at several different movie theaters, and many times I didn't like the popcorn because it was either stale tasting, too salty, or whatever. But, I almost always buy popcorn still when we go to see a movie and I do enjoy it more than not (if only it were organic!). I surely cannot be the only person who has ever had to return a food item for not being up to par, whether it be organic or not.  It is quite possible that organic apple either was not picked at its peak, had been sitting on the shelf too long, or just wasn't the type of apple that pleased the taste buds at that time. The same can  happen with a conventional apple.

One should not base their entire view about organics on one experience, with one "bad" apple.

Organic foods, simply put, means it contains no GMO's, pesticides, fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, antibiotics, injected hormones, or "bad" chemicals.


Here are the USDA guidelines for what makes an organic food item organic, and how it will appear on a label:

• 100% Organic – Foods that are completely organic or made with 100% organic ingredients. May display the USDA seal.
• Organic – Foods that contain at least 95% organic ingredients. May display the USDA seal.
• Made with organic ingredients – Foods that contain at least 70% organic ingredients. Will not display the USDA seal. May list specific organic ingredients on the front of the package.
• Contains organic ingredients – Foods that contain less than 70% organic ingredients. Will not display the USDA seal. May list specific organic ingredients on the information panel of the package.

 Some question, "How do you know if your food is truly organic, especially when it comes from another country?"

Well, how do I know that the cook who made my meal at the restaurant I ate at the other night didn't sweat in my food? I don't.

I am confident my food was handled properly before it arrived on my plate?

How do we know anything for sure, unless we do it ourselves?

Until I grow my own, all I can do is trust that the agencies put in place, to monitor, audit, and impose fines (if necessary) are enough to ensure that my food is truly organic. Just like in religion, I have to have faith. For the most part,  I know that most organic farmers do it because they truly believe in what it stands for. Not many who believe in organics will cut corners risking their own jobs, livelihood, and organic's values. I can almost guarantee that the conventional farming practices will always be wrought with more pesticides and garbage at any rate.


MAJOR benefits to supporting organic agriculture:

1. Saving our environment:

Recently, I was watching one of those "Hoarding" t.v. shows, where bazillions of roaches, trash, feces, and the like were overtaking this woman's home by fault of her own diseased mind. So, they clean up her home, take it all out, make it nice. But, no matter where that garbage went, it is still on this earth. It is not gone forever. No matter how one cleans up a space on this planet, whether it be cleaning of the beaches, a back yard, a junk yard, the "stuff" is still here. It's not truly cleaned up, it's just moved on to another place on this earth. What does conventional farming do with the run-off of chemicals, the residuals, the contaminated soil? Organic farming, ranching, and dairy, has an amazing positive affect on our environment by sustaining all that it encompasses. By using safe measures for pesticide control, alternating of the soil, no chemicals to linger for decades to come, its practices are helping to preserve our children's futures. The scary part to me is knowing that conventional farming is still allowed, knowing how harmful it is to the environment, and ultimately us.

2. Helping Antibiotics stay effective when sincerely needed medically for humans:

The overuse of antibiotics (because many doctors, and doctors' patients feel they are necessary when they are not helpful at all) is making us all immune to its affects. Antibiotics that are given to animals (who are not organically raised) are ingested into our bodies when we eat the meat and/or dairy of that animal. Antibiotics are becoming less effective for humans due to the over abundance of its use and infiltration of our food.

3. Live a longer, healthier life:

Pesticides can cause cancer and other diseases, plain and simple- not to mention all the other culprits that are put into most conventional food items. I am all for living as long as possible so why wouldn't I try to limit my intake of poisonous substances? Sure, Mr. Paul Newman, a huge advocate of organic, holistic foods, died of cancer (RIP blue eyes). But, other factors come into play besides food. Genetics, smoking, drinking, environment, medications, etc. Maybe things he had done earlier in life had finally caught up to him. Maybe, no matter what, he was genetically pre-disposed with an increased chance of disease. So, I would like to think that his organic lifestyle, whenever he began down that path, helped him live a longer life than he would have had, had he not eaten organically.

Be a Locavore! CSA's and Food Co-ops, What are they all about?

Would you rather:

A. Eat carrots that had to travel 1,800 miles to get to your plate or B. Eat carrots that were picked the same day just a few miles down the road?

Aside from the logistics of it all, it just makes sense to support local agriculture. Not everyone is privy to such wonderful possibilities, but if you are, why not take advantage of a wonderful thing?

Community Supported Agriculture is a great way of getting local (preferably organic) produce for a great  price. A "CSA" group typically consists of members who commit to purchasing a minimum amount of produce from a supplier (usually a local farmer) on a regular basis. This group effort ensures that the farmer has someone to sell his produce to, and the buyers can benefit with buying local, fresh produce at a fair price. Knowing exactly where one's food comes from has many benefits and supporting your local farmer is a win-win for all involved. The produce will be super fresh, packed with more vitamins than produce that must be shipped, stored, then put out for (potentially) several days on display. You farmer will likely introduce produce you may not have eaten before. Being exposed to new types of produce will make eating and preparing it more exciting. CSAs aren't always just produce. Some farmers include eggs, homemade baked goods, jams, jellies, meat, cheese, fruit, flowers or other farm products along with their veggies. 

A food or produce co-operative is similar to a CSA except that usually the produce is bought through a supplier (a produce distributor, like one that delivers to health food stores and grocers) and divided up amongst co-op members. Buying in bulk and/or wholesale allows the lower prices to be passed down to the co-op members.

Not everyone is able to farm gardens, keep chickens, and milk a cow. This does not mean one does not want the same fresh, healthy, eco-friendly options. Belonging to a CSA or a local co-op is a great way to have these wonderful, fresh, healthy foods. 

Currently, I run a local co-op in my hometown. It is a wonderful thing!

Here are a couple of websites where you can look up CSA's and co-ops in your area:

1. CoopDirectory.org

2. LocalHarvest.org