This Easy, One-Skillet Dinner Tastes Like Spring

Using canned artichokes and frozen peas keeps this fresh meal simple to make all year long.

Of all the reasons I fantasize about moving to Rome, the availability of precleaned artichokes is near the top of my list.

Whenever I felt like it, I could just nip down to the local vegetable market where the artichokes would be bobbing in buckets of lemon water, their pointy petals trimmed, their hairy hearts defuzzed, their fibrous stems meticulously pared away, until only the bright-green tender center remained. It would take mere minutes to turn them into dinner, and in spring I’d happily eat them every night.

But, in my New York reality, fresh artichokes are weekends-only, when I have the time and patience to clean them. When the craving hits during the workweek, I simply reach for a can.

Of course, canned artichokes are not interchangeable with fresh ones, certainly not in the way canned beans can replace dried beans cooked from scratch.

But canned artichokes (and their chilly frozen cousins) have distinct charms, including a mild, earthy flavor and soft, velvety texture that work beautifully in dishes created to take advantage of them.

Think of canned artichokes like canned tuna. Fresh tuna steaks are fantastic seared and served rare, but I wouldn’t want them in a tuna salad sandwich. Each has its own role in a balanced kitchen ecosystem.