Last night my husband and I made a healthy, delicious meal of fresh lemon and dill salmon and steamed artichokes. Artichokes have been my favorite vegetable since I was a kid and I don’t think I will ever get sick of them. We even grew them ourselves last year!
When I was little I would refuse to eat the heart of the artichoke. I remember my mom saying, “Why don’t you eat the heart? It’s the best part!” My response would usually be something like “Eww, gross!” It took years until I finally told my parents that I wasn’t eating the best part of the artichoke because I thought it was a real heart. I was little and didn’t understand the difference between a real heart and the idea that something could be called a heart because it was at the “heart” of the vegetable. When I finally learned the difference I was amazed by what I had been missing. The heart really is the best part! I guess mom’s always know best!
The problem with eating an artichoke a day is that most artichoke dipping sauces are loaded with fat and extra calories. Most people eat them with mayonnaise, or garlic butter, which clearly are not the healthiest choices. When my mom used to make them, we would dip them in Italian dressing mixed with Parmesan cheese. I know, it sounds weird, but it was really tasty and much healthier. Randomly one day I added cottage cheese to that mixture and ate my artichokes dipped in cottage cheese and Italian dressing for years after that. Of course I’ve had the mayo and the garlic butter as well, but now I am always trying to come up new healthy versions that still tastes delicious. This one is my favorite so far:
Lemon and Dill Yogurt Aioli
- 1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- pinch salt
Mix all ingredients together and chill until ready to serve! Double recipe as needed for more artichokes (amounts don’t need to be exact. Add ingredients to taste)
Baked Lemon and Dill Salmon
- 2 salmon filets
- 2 tbsp room temp butter
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- Juice of half a lemon
Mix together butter, lemon and dill. Spread over top of salmon filets in a baking dish lined with foil. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes (depending on size of salmon). Then broil for 5 minutes to crisp the top of the salmon. Squeeze lemon on top before serving and garnish with fresh dill. Enjoy!
Artistry by Adele 
Looks so delicious!
This sounds delicious! I love your blog, Amanda. It’s so wonderfully eclectic. And your photos are great.
Thanks Julie! I’m so glad you like it. I get bored writing about just one topic :)
Wow! I wish I had some artichokes at home now :-)
I’m trying the aioli soon! It sounds great.
The aioli sounds lovely – nice and healthy, yet also clearly delicious. Yum!
This reminds me of how scared I was the first time I dyed Easter Eggs with my mom. I didn’t understand that when she said “you put it in the dye,” she didn’t mean that something was going to DIE. Homonyms– got me every time, as a kid.
wow! These are gorgeous photos of a very yummy looking dish! :D
I love artichokes too! My grandmother always made them for my siblings and I when we visited. We used to dip them in butter, but now I typically grill them with a little salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime. They taste just as great! I’ll have to try your Lemon and Dill Yogurt Aioli, it looks delicious.
I love grilling artichokes! I can’t wait for summer so we can do that more often. Thanks for the reminder :) I usually squeeze lemon on them but lime sounds great too!