Grilled Artichokes With Creamy Butter Dip

Who knew artichokes could be so good? Adapted from Country Living magazine.This recipe is Italian and also Southwestern.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Yields: 4-8

Ingredients

• 1  lemon, halved
• 4  large artichokes
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice, plus
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  teaspoon coarse salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  ground red pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon dried basil (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare the artichokes:
2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon half into it. Remove the stems and pointy tips from the outer leaves of the artichokes, and cut 3/4 " off the top. Rub all cut areas with the remaining lemon half. Place each trimmed artichoke into the bowl of lemon water until ready to steam.
3. Steam the artichokes:
4. Drain the artichokes and place stem side up in a steamer basket over about 1" of water and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until tender-about 30 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl to cool.
5. Grill the artichokes:
6. Heat the grill to medium(or heat grill pan). Cut the artichokes in half lenthwise. Scoopout the inner pink leaves and the fuzzy choke. Toss the cleaned artchokes with the oil, salt, and pepper and grill until golden-4 to 6 minutes on each side. Stir the remaining lemon juice, butter, mayonnaise, red pepper, and basil, if using, together and serve as an acconpanying dip. Enjoy!