As of early last year I started cutting down on consuming animal products, and as a result I was constantly coming up with new vegetarian dishes. This is one of them. The lemon and coriander bring out the flavour of the artichoke really well. Serve extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges separately.This is a typical Lebanese custom where olive oil is served on the table with side dishes and it is drizzled on top to taste.

Serves 4: (as a mezze or side dish)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 packet frozen artichoke hearts, 400 g

1 packet frozen broad-beans, no skin, 400 g

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup of chopped fresh coriander

2 cloves of garlic, crushed.

sea salt to taste

2 table spoons olive oil

extra olive oil to taste. To drizzle on top.(optional)

extra lemon wedges.

Freshly cracked black pepper (optional)

Method:

Defrost artichoke hearts and broad beans. For quick defrosting run some cold water on top of broad beans, they are soft so take care and only use cold or tepid water. Run hot water on top of artichokes.

Cut artichokes in half and then quarter them, if big cut them into six pieces each. Put them in a pan with 1 table-spoon of oil and fry on low heat for a couple of minutes. Add broad beans and stir for  2 more minutes. Add water and cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Stir fry garlic in 1  table-spoon oil in another fry-pan for a few seconds then add coriander, stir for a minute until wilted and fragrant. Add on top of artichokes and broad-beans. Stir, add salt and lemon, mix and turn heat off. Place in serving plate and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top and serve. Place extra lemon wedges, black pepper and olive oil on table to be added to dish as you please.