Vegetarian Tour of California | Hot Artichoke and Dill Dip

As we wind down the Tour of California, I had to end on a high note (much like the Mt. Baldy climb) and feature what I think is a phenomenal recipe.

But, first, a little background on the main ingredient - the artichoke.

When thinking about the artichoke, most people find them to be a bit fussy to deal with. In fact, the lady and scholar, Miss Piggy, once summed this up quite nicely, "These things are just plain annoying. After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual "food" out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps. Have the shrimp cocktail instead."

Before you pick up your shrimp fork, give artichokes a chance (especially with this recipe). 

California is overflowing with artichokes. Due to its ideal growing conditions, the city of Castroville, California has even declared itself the "Artichoke Capital of the World" and hosts the yearly Artichoke Festival - which happens to be going on this weekend. By the way, the first Castroville Artichoke Queen back in 1947 was none other than Marilyn Monroe. (Couldn't find a picture of her as Artichoke Queen, but, did find a pic of Ms. Monroe on a bicycle...a little more appealing that Miss Piggy on a bike, no?)

Artichokes made their way to California in 1922 - about 25 years before Monroe was crowned. Andrew Molera, who lived in Monterey County California, leased his land to Italian farmers. Trying to make a little bit more money, he convinced them to grow a "new vegetable", which would be the artichoke, rather than the sugar beets he was previously growing there. The Italian farmers were able to get more money on the market for the artichokes and thus Molera could charge higher rent to them. Now, California provides nearly 100% of the artichoke crop for the United States.

This dip is packed full of cheesy goodness and the dill adds a fresh and bright flavor. Peter Stetina who is currently riding for Team Garmin-Cervelo in the Giro, probably won't be eating this dip as part of his daily race eating regimen due to all the cheese. But, I'd definitely invite him, or any other pro-cyclist, to come over during the off-season and I'll make this for them. It's pretty addictive and pretty durn good.

Recipe and details on Veggin'...