ARTICHOKES—TO CELEBRATE SPRING HOLIDAYS

The sun peeps out from behind the clouds and, right on cue, the folks renting the house next door for Easter week are splashing in the pool. Me, I’m still wearing a warm sweater and wool socks. Indoors, the house takes a long time to warm up. 

Orange blossom.

But, it’s definitely springtime. Wildflowers are abloom and orange blossoms perfume the garden. It´s a week of spring holidays. Easter, Passover and Ramadan all are celebrated this week. 

A friend brought packs of matzo (unleavened bread for Passover) from the U.S. (thanks, Jesse), so we are having a mini-seder, all vegetarian. It seemed only appropriate to serve Sephardic foods, in honor of the Jewish communities of medieval Spain and of those who have returned to Spain.  

This recipe for artichoke-orange salad was given to me by a Sephardic acquaintance from North Africa whose family, a few centuries ago, was from Toledo. They resettled in Spain in the1980s. She told me the salad is served for Passover. 

Salads of vegetables with oranges are very typical in Spain and in Morocco. This one might also include spring fava beans and, in Turkey, green almonds. It can be prepared up to three days before serving. Serve it at room temperature, as a starter or side dish. 

Artichoke bottoms are cooked with citrus and olive oil, served room temperature with sliced oranges.

Mint leaves add a fresh flavor to the artichokes.

Serve the salad as a starter or side dish for a spring holiday meal.

Trimmed artichokes are tender enough to eat the whole piece. 

Artichoke and Orange Salad

Ensalada de Alcachofas con Naranjas

I’ve used medium-sized artichokes. Trimmed down to the bottoms, they are cut in half before cooking. If you’ve got really big artichokes, cut them in quarters. You need to remove all the exterior leaves and fibrous choke so that the whole piece of cooked artichoke is edible. 

If available, use sour (bitter) Sevilla orange juice instead of lemon to cook the artichokes. The acidic juice keeps the artichokes from darkening. Use ordinary sweet oranges to finish the salad. 

Serves 6.

2 lemons (or sour oranges)

10 medium artichokes (3 pounds)

2 oranges

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup + 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, slivered

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

Romaine leaves to serve

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint to garnish

Put the juice of ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon) in a bowl and fill with water. Snap off 3 or 4 layers of the outer leaves from the artichokes. Cut them about a third of the way from the bottoms, discarding the upper leaves. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out and discard the fuzzy choke. Cut the bottoms in half. Place each artichoke bottom as prepared into the lemon water. If desired, the stems can be peeled and cooked with the artichoke bottoms

Pull off three or four layers of outer leaves. 

Use a spoon or melon ball tool to scoop out the fuzzy, fibrous choke in the center.

Place the artichokes in a saucepan just large enough to hold them. Peel and slice 1 lemon and 1 orange and tuck the slices in with the artichokes. Pour the juice of remaining half lemon over them. Cover with 6 cups of water. Add the salt, oil and slivered garlic.

Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered. Artichokes are done when an outer leaf pulls off easily, about 20 minutes. Let them cool in the liquid.

The artichokes can be refrigerated, covered, in their liquid up to 3 days. Bring them to room temperature to serve.

Before serving, drain the artichokes in a colander or use a slotted spoon to remove just a few. Discard the pieces of cooked orange and lemon. Arrange the artichokes on a bed of romaine leaves. Peel and slice the remaining orange and tuck the slices in with the artichokes. Stir together the 3 tablespoons of oil and vinegar. Spoon the dressing over the artichokes and oranges. Sprinkle with mint.

Artichoke salad served at the seder dinner.

Spring herbs for our seder table. I've gathered parsley, dill, wild fennel, celery, mint and cilantro.

Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Blessed Ramadan. Peace.