Garlic Roasted Artichokes

Hey everyone!

Gosh, I am finally coming out of the first trimester over here and starting to feel a little better! I have a full first trimester recap post to share with you guys very soon, but today I want to share with you all about my time visiting Ocean Mist Farms last week! If you follow my Instagram, you know what a cool experience it was. I actually got to go out in the fields with a backpack and knife and harvest artichokes! I definitely wasn’t a pro (and got some artichoke slivers to prove it), but I had a great time doing it! I came home that day with a full bag of leafy ‘chokes, along with Chandon Sparking Wine and a big bag of Cuties (which my kids ripped through in a day), as they were the other Safeway partners part of the farm tour. 

I made, what I think, is a really yummy and DOABLE recipe (since artichokes can be a little intimidating, right?), which I will share at the end of this post so stay tuned!

So, I went into this not really knowing too much about artichokes other than I know I love them…especially the hearts! I learned a ton on the tour. I think it’s awesome that at Ocean Mist Farms, ALL of the artichokes are actually harvested entirely by hand. No machines! Being there actually reminded me of living in Sonoma and seeing all of the vineyard workers harvest the grapes by hand during crush (wine making season). I saw a lot of similarities between the artichoke fields and the vineyards and it was just so darn gorgeous out there by the Monterey Bay. A total breath of fresh air from Berkeley.

The Safeway folks had this amazing and gorgeous lunch spread out for us smack dab in the middle of the fields! It was so picturesque, you guys, and talk about FRESH. The only bummer here was that I couldn’t really partake in all of the Chandon sparking wine (from Napa!) that was freely flowing with the meal. Okay, okay, I did have one tiny taste! The drink you see below is their version of a mimosa – it’s Rose sparkling wine mixed with freshly squeezed Cutie juice. Let’s just say after I push this baby out, I know what my drink of choice will be. 😉

And speaking of Cutie juice, did you know you could juice a Cutie? When I think of Cuties, I just think of how much I love them and how much my kids ADORE them. Both boys can easily peel them and they are something I buy on a regular basis for Grayson’s lunch box and after school snacks. A big pregnancy craving of mine has been ice cold Cuties from the fridge. I won’t even tell you guys how many I can eat. 

So, let’s talk about the recipe for a moment. When I was at the farm, I did get some questions about the mechanics of eating artichokes. When you eat an artichoke, you don’t eat the whole leaf. You scrape it with your teeth then toss the rest! Oh and DON’T put artichokes down the garbage disposal. For the love. 

Here, I roasted the artichokes with tons of garlic until very tender, then served them with a little vinaigrette dressing I made using sparkling wine, shallots, olive oil and cutie juice. I think you guys are really going to love it – we totally did! Roasting artichokes whole like this is SO EASY and takes all of five minutes (if that!) to prepare. I know that I rarely steam artichokes just because it’s so hard to know when they are truly done. Roasting is so much easier and better! Plus, I don’t know if my house has ever smelled so good. Truth. 

Safeway has generously given me a discount code to give to y’all so you can purchase these ingredients and have them delivered right to your door through Safeway Home Delivery (powered by Instacart). Use code TENFREE to get $10 dollars off and free delivery on your first order that’s $35 or more. 

disclaimer: this service is through and subject to the term’s of Safeway’s third party distributor, Instacart. You will need an instacart account. Special pricing and fees may apply and service is available in select areas. Enter your zip code online to see if the service is available in your area. This offer is limited to first time instacart users and must be used within 7 days of signup. Minimum order of $35 before taxes, fees and discounts. Expires 6/30/2018. See additional terms over at http://bit.ly/instacartterms. Other delivery options available.

This post is sponsored by Safeway. All thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.