While I wait for our farmer's market to catch up with the external evidence that it is spring, I find myself unable to resist some of the not-so-very local or organic offerings at our local Whole Foods. The shrink-wrapped little flat of twelve Ocean Mist brand baby artichokes was perhaps not as glorious as the bin of perfect, squeaky-fresh, bright green baby chokes doubtless frolicking in the fresh air at my old Berkeley farmer's market as we speak, BUT it was pretty exciting to me, and so I bought it.

The really groovy thing about miniature artichokes is that the chokes themselves are not developed, so you have more options for eating them gloriously whole. I've had wonderful teeny ones that were minimally trimmed of even their spiky outer leaves, fried in olive oil, in Italy, and if you have the chance to do the same, let me be the first to tell you not to hesitate. However, this is more the sort of thing I like to let other people do for me than to do in my own home on a weeknight, and I had a feeling, too, that our agribusiness arties were a little less tender in their outer leaves than some, so I opted for a different method.

Trimming and roasting are both easy-peasy, and S. said: "hey! that tastes like fancy restaurant food!" I'm not precisely sure what he had in mind there, but he did definitely mean it as a compliment. Serve with something that has a mild and simple flavor -- simply dressed pasta is a good choice -- so that you can fully appreciate the effect of the cynarin, which makes other foods taste curiously sweet.

ROASTED BABY ARTICHOKES
Baby artichokes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Put a pot of salted water on to boil and start heating your oven to 400° F. Position a rack near the top of the oven. Trim the artichokes according to the directions here. Trim ruthlessly or you will be disappointed by exceedingly firm, unyielding results when you go to cook them.

Submerge in acidulated water to prevent oxidation. They'll be inclined to float, which means that bits will stick up out of the water and get brownish, so you may want to weight them down with a saucer. You can leave them whole or cut them in half if they're quite quite big -- I think it's nice to leave them whole, though. Remove from the acidulated water at the last minute; transfer directly to the pot of boiling water. Simmer for 7-10 minutes, until the tip of a paring knife will enter the base of the artichoke easily. I suggest erring on the side of cooking fully; a little on the mushy side is better than rubbery, and the roasting will firm them up anyhow. Drain.

You could just stop here and eat the little guys with butter and lemon or mayonnaise. Roasting is easy, though, and it concentrates the flavor. Toss with plenty of olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and pop into the oven. Roast for about 7 minutes and then, if you like, turn on the broiler. (This works best, obviously, if your broiler is in the main oven of your stove, rather than a separate drawer.) Broil for just an extra minute and remove from the oven.