All About the Veg! is a biweekly recipe column where Best of Vegan contributor Seiran Sinjari breaks down one amazing plant at a time. In today’s column, she revisits artichokes and creates a perfectly shareable flavor-packed dish with them. Her vegan artichoke butter bean dip, topped with crispy fried artichoke hearts and a drizzle of lemony harissa oil, is bound to become your picnic season mainstay!
Now that it’s picnic and barbecue season, I’m really into dips and other sharing foods. Dips and spreads are easy to prepare and bring in containers to the beach, park, social gatherings, or wherever you’re going. The best part is that you can blend pretty much anything into a creamy dip and enjoy it with bread, crackers, veggies, and more.
Today we’re doing a creamy artichoke dip perfect as an appetizer or as part of several sharing plates. To make it extra, we’re also making some crispy fried artichoke hearts that can be served on top or on the side. To spice things up, we finally finish it off with a drizzle of lemony harissa oil.
This is actually not as time-consuming as you may think because we’re using preserved artichoke hearts today so you don’t have to deal with all the trimming and pre-cooking. If you would like to know more about fresh artichokes, you can read my previous article about artichokes where I also share a recipe for Vegan Sumac Roasted Artichokes with Salted Pistachios & Roasted Garlic Butter here.
Having a jar or two of preserved artichokes in the pantry is really handy as they can be incorporated into so many different foods. Their earthy buttery flavor with tanginess and texture works great in salads, sandwiches, pasta dishes, and as pizza toppers. And of course, I love blending them into dips and also frying them crispy so that’s why I’m giving you two-in-one today!
Ingredients
Dip:
- 225 g preserved artichoke hearts in water - drained (if using oil-cured, add less olive oil)
- 250 g cooked butter beans
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 2 ½ tbsp olive oil
- ½-1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cold water - more as needed
- salt & pepper to taste
- Lemon Harissa Oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp harissa paste - more or less to taste
- ½-1 tbsp lemon juice
- lemon zest of ½ lemon
Fried Artichokes:
- 4 preserved artichoke hearts - drained, pat-dried, and cut in half
- 100 ml almond milk
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- salt & pepper to taste
- Neutral oil for frying
- flaky sea salt
Garnish:
- 1 tbsp finely topped parsley
Instructions
Artichoke Butter Bean Dip:
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy. Add more water if needed. Taste and adjust lemon and salt to taste.
Lemon Harissa Oil:
- Gently heat olive oil in a small pan, and add the harissa paste, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Stir until harissa is dissolved and remove from heat.
Fried Artichokes:
- Prepare the fried artichokes just before serving so they’re crispy and warm.
- Whisk together almond milk and vinegar in a bowl, it should curdle, leave at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Stir again.
- Mix flour, parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, add other spices if you want.
- Dip the artichokes in the flour, make sure they are well coated, then dip in the milk and repeat again, finishing in the flour; flour-milk-flour-milk-flour.
- Cover the bottom of a pan with oil (around 1 cm) and heat it.
- Gently place the artichokes in the pan and fry until golden brown on both sides.
- Remove artichokes from the pan and place them on a wire rack (or paper towel-lined plate) to let the excess oil drip off and also immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Serving:
- Spread the dip in a thick layer on a plate and top with the fried artichokes, drizzle some of the lemon harissa oil on top and finish with parsley. Serve immediately while artichokes are warm and crispy. You can also serve the fried artichokes on the side or just make the dip on its own.
Notes
Recipe, text, and photography by Seiran Sinjari.
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