Artichokes

I cooked with artichokes for the first time today. I bought a Bountiful Basket (a fresh fruit/vegetable basket) for the first time in a while this week and got 4 artichokes, so tonight I cooked 2 of them. We made a tasty pasta dish. I didn't measure everything, but here is the basic idea:

2 artichokes, steamed
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into strips
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 pound pasta, cooked
Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Garlic Powder (or fresh garlic, minced)
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Saute bell pepper and onion in olive oil with the spices for a few minutes, add diced tomatoes and steamed artichokes. Cook for a few minutes. Add cooked pasta, Parmesan cheese, and vinegar.

We enjoyed this dish quite a bit. Sorry there aren't measurements - we just kind of made it up as we went along :) My Bountiful Basket also had the yellow bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes in it.

Here is a decent video on preparing an artichoke to cook in a recipe like this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3tivOcd530&feature=related) I just steamed the artichokes in the microwave for 7-8 minutes - a lot faster than doing it over the stove! There are also videos on how to prepare one if you want to eat it by dipping it in butter sauce.