Artichokes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

Preparation

1. 1. Place a steamer insert into a large pot filled with 2 inches of water.
2. 2. Bring to a boil.
3. 3. Cut top 1/4 and bottom stem off of large artichokes with a serrated knife. If leaves have prickly or barbed ends, trim them off with scissors. If you are using baby artichokes, remove some of the tough outer leaves, until you hit the pale green leaves (about 10-20 leaves). Trim off top and bottom stem of baby artichokes.
4. 4. Place large artichokes in the steamer pot stem end up, cover and cook over medium-high heat for 30 minutes or until the leaves peel off the artichoke easily and the base of the artichoke is tender when pierced with a knife. Cook the baby artichokes in the same way for 10 minutes or until the stem is easily pierced with a knife.
5. 5. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and whisk.
6. 6. Serve the artichokes with the yogurt dip.
7. *When eating the large artichokes, you want to pull off the leaves and eat the “meat” off of the bottom half of each leaf, discarding the leaves. Once you’ve eaten all of the leaves, you will have the artichoke heart remaining. With a knife or spoon, scrape out and discard the inedible fuzzy part (called the “choke”) covering the artichoke heart. The remaining bottom of the artichoke is the heart. Cut into pieces and dip into sauce to eat.