oven roasted artichoke {easiest side dish ever}

i {heart} artichokes.. ever since i was little they have always been one of my favorite veggie side dishes.. i grew up eating them with mayo or flavored mayo.. pete grew up dipping them in melted butter.. over the years neither of us has really changed sides.. i still dip mine in mayo and he dips his is melted butter or nothing at all.. the way i have always made them was to cut off the bottom stem, cut off the top, boil then serve..after this recipe i will never never make it that way again.. this was soo easy.. no mess no fuss.. and sooo flavorful!! i am kicking myself why i never made it this way before.. i saw this recipe here on pinterest and i thunked myself on the forehead and thought ok that's the best thing ever and i immediately went to the store bought artichokes and make them.. i have since then made them 2 more times {its only been 2 weeks since i found the recipe} but it's so good.. so easy.. i promise you will be so happy when you try this recipe..

roasted artichokes

prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 1.5 hours
servings: 4

ingredients:

2 large artichokes
4 cloves of garlic, minced {2 cloves per artichoke}
1 lemon {1/2 and juiced - each artichoke gets the juice of a 1/2 a lemon}
olive oil
salt and pepper

directions:

slice off the top third of the artichoke with a sharp knife.. cut off the stem right at the base of the artichoke...  tear of a large square of foil and place on a baking sheet and then place one artichoke in the middle of the foil and open up the leaves a bit with your fingers....  tuck the minced garlic into the artichoke leaves...  sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper all over then squeeze 1/2 a lemon over it and drizzle olive oil over the top.... {one time i used lemon oil i made which was awesome, i will post that recipe next week} repeat with each artichoke.. once seasoned wrap the foil up around each artichoke, sealing it well... if you're not using heavy duty aluminum foil, wrap them with an extra sheet of the regular kind...repeat with the remaining artichokes.. place wrapped artichokes on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated 425 degree {f} oven for an hour to an hour and a half.. if you're using small artichokes, check after one hour... {you want them to somewhat soft when squeezed with tongs} when done remove from the oven and let the artichokes sit until cool enough to handle, then unwrap... the smell will be amazing.. place in a bowl  and serve with your favorite dip, melted butter or even plain with no dip these are still amazing.. i like to take a about a 1/4 of mayo, 1 minced garlic, 1/2 a lemon juiced and a tablespoon of parmesan and mix it together and dip my artichoke in it.. yummyyyyyyyyyy..