Charred Artichoke With A Dill Yogurt Dip

One more awesome opportunity for recipe review and this time it is charred artichokes served with a dill aioli sauce from Richard Blais of Flip Burger and Top Chef. His new cookbook is called Try This At Home. Loved the simplicity of the recipe and  the complimenting flavors. I was really excited to try charred  artichokes. I love artichokes and get weak in my knees for spinach artichoke dip but never thought I should try other ways of cooking the vegetable with a heart, specially charred and it is so so simple. I am beginning to love baked, roasted and charred versions of vegetables, well it does help that they are low on calories and healthy too. 

Enjoy being part of the cookbook club, thanks to daily meal for the opportunity and thanks to Richard Blais for the awesome recipes. Talking about recipe review, am working on an awesome  book review about spices - can't wait to share it with you guys. Almost forgot you can read and view my review for the artichoke here 

I did make a few alterations to the dip, instead of mayo I used greek yogurt .  I loved the combination, one of those dishes that you can't have enough of.

Make sure the Artichokes are vibrant in color, the petals tightly closed and heavy and you got the best of the pick. Make sure you trim the non- edible parts, I did trim the fiber but did not cut the non-edible parts, I wanted to show off the beauty of the artichoke. Click here for dummies guide to cutting  an artichoke. 

Rinse the artichoke in cold running water. Soak the artichoke in boiling salted water and boil for about 25-30 min.  Heat a cast iron skillet, add 1 tsp olive oil and roast the artichoke cut side down till you can see nice charred marks. OR pre heat oven broiler and place artichoke cut side up on broiler pan. Till nice and charred

Dip
1 cup greek yogurt 
2 tbsp finely cut capers (drained)
1/4 tsp tabasco 
1 tsp grated lemon zest 
the original recipe  had lemon juice, I did not add it as I thought the capers were pretty sour
4-5 tbsp freshly cut dill

spice blend 
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
freshly ground pepper
sea salt to taste ( go easy as the capers are pretty salty )

to the greek yogurt add all the above, refrigerate till you serve. How easy was that ? :)) hope you are having an awesome weekend!