Healthy artichokes The best thing is the tender heart piece

Fresh artichokes: The coronation is the tender heart
At the weekly market, the artichoke is admired, but many do not dare to prepare the noble vegetables. But that's worth it, because the taste of the fresh flower heads is hardly comparable to pickled hearts from the glass. Often the fine artichoke is served as an appetizer with a vinaigrette and baguette. But it also tastes in vegetable pans, on a tart and as a side dish to meat.

The right "bile eating": artichoke, zucchini ... Image: M.studio - fotolia

The artichoke also has a lot to offer in nutritional physiology: In addition to plenty of fiber, it contains the carbohydrate inulin, which is particularly suitable for diabetics. In addition, vitamin B1 and minerals such as iron, while the bitter substance cynarin promotes digestion and fat burning.

The thistle-like plant (Cynara scolymus) is native to the eastern Mediterranean. It counts as cauliflower and broccoli to the so-called inflorescence. That is, it is eaten the flower soil and the meaty thickening of the bracts. Depending on the variety, the artichoke is colored green or purple.

The preparation requires some practice, but it is not difficult. First, rinse the artichoke under running water. Then the stem is unscrewed or broken over a table edge, so that the hard inedible fibers dissolve on the ground. Then remove the outer, hard leaves and shorten the tips of the leaves. Rub all interfaces quickly with lemon juice so they do not discolour. Now the artichoke is cooked in salted water with lemon juice. Caution: In aluminum pots it assumes a metallic taste and discolored. After 25 to 40 minutes, the noble vegetables are cooked. For consumption, the individual leaves are pulled out, the lower, fleshy end dipped in a dip and removed with the teeth. The coronation is the "heart" that is cut with a knife and fork. First, the inedible fibers, the "hay", must be removed with a spoon.

Artichokes are available year-round, but they taste best from June to November. Pay attention to quality when shopping. Fresh flower heads feel plump and firm and are heavy in the hand. If the outer leaves are discolored and dried, the goods are superimposed. Also, the stalk must not be dried out. In the refrigerator, the vegetables, covered with foil or cloth, one to two weeks. Heike Kreutz, bzfe