Why artichoke? – you may ask. The season is right and artichokes are available fresh at the village markets in Marmaris and Icmeler. At first artichokes may look as not edible, but accept the challenge. Go for the cleaned vegetable parts of artichoke, which are sold now for 2 TL each at the village market. The local market sellers will supply you with a plastic bag, full of water to cover your artichoke. This may feel as if you are buying golden fish for your aquarium. For that reason you will need to have space on top of your shopping cart or even better carry it in your hand. When you are finally back in your kitchen don’t throw that water until you are ready to use the artichokes. Otherwise it may darken, just like potato.
Fresh green peas are also available at the village markets right now. They come either as unshelled or shelled in small plastic bag. If shelling green peas is not your favourite activity on a sunny afternoon in Marmaris, go for a bag of shelled peas, just like I did. A bag of fresh green peas cost 5 TL last Sunday and it would do you from 2 to 3 different meals variations. If you do not plan to use all the peas in one or two days, it is better to freeze the rest, as they do not last long. But let’s go back to our main ingredient – the artichoke.
What else is needed : a small tea glass (used in Turkey for measuring liquids), about 85 cc, of olive oil for cooking, one onion, a carrot and a medium potato. Chop your vegetables small and tiny. It looks better at the end and cooks easier when it is smaller. Cook all of these on a medium heat / fire together with the olive oil till your onion is golden. Add green peas, a little water and saute for another 5 – 7 minutes. Now take your artichokes from the water in the bag and place them in a low cooking pot with a lid. Arrange the artichokes next to each other to prevent them from flipping over. Top each artichoke with your vegetable saute, arranging enough but not too much on each. Now add water just enough to cover side of the artichokes, but not to top them with water, sprinkle some lemon juice and cover with a lid. Let it saute until you artichoke is tender soft. This particular meal is very healthy and decorative for lunch and dinner.
Afiyet Olsun! Enjoy your meal!
p.s. any questions – email info@marmarisinfo.com