Artichoke Recipe: Roasted Madness

So the other day I went to the grocery store and set myself a challenge. I have way too much tillapia in my fridge, and I needed to use it up, but I also needed a vegetable. I grabbed an artichoke. It was pretty! lol I've been warned before not to try cooking artichoke, that it will be too difficult for me and way too expensive if I mess up. Pfft! I did it anyway.

Ingredients:
1 Artichoke (fresh as you can get it)
1 tsp olive oil
1 small pinch of salt
1 pinch of black pepper (you can use any seasoning, I just really love black pepper)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take out a baking sheet and cut a long strip of aluminum/tin foil about the same size as the sheet. Crumple it up and then carefully unfold it again and place it inside the sheet.
2. After cleaning and preparing,** cut the artichoke in half and lay the two halves on the foil.
3. Drizzle on the olive oil and add the salt and pepper. Try to get both sides of the artichoke with the oil and seasonings, as it will just burst with flavour! :D
4. Cook in the oven for 10-20 minutes, or until you can poke a fork into it and it is tender (much like with the asparagus or brussel sprouts).

Serve with tillapia! What a treat! :D


**Cleaning and Preparation Instructions
Ok, this is how my mom explained to me how to do it:
1. Soak the artichoke in cold water for 5 minutes and then rinse it under cold tap water.
2. Cut the stem until you have a little under 1/2 inch stem left.
3. Cut off the top of the artichoke to let the leaves loose and trim off the pointy bits on each leaf. It's not required, but it is preferable.
4. After the artichoke is cut in half to cook, remove the choke. This part is absolutely not edible, so don't try. Get it completely out of the way.

And now go on with the cooking! :D