pan fried artichoke hearts with lemon,thyme and parmesan

This was so delicious that I had it for dinner tonight and blogged it straight away -soon to have a pretty picture posted but for now the recipe...

4 or 5  cooked artichokes hearts
about a teaspoon of lemon peel chopped finely
basil oil
dried or fresh thyme
quinoa cooked-a bowlful
Freshly grated parmesan
Boil the artichokes until tender.Peel back the stalks and chop.Take as much flesh as is possible from the artichoke and slice.Saute in olive oil over a high heat until slightly browned.Add the lemon peel and about a half teaspoon of dried thyme or one teaspoon of fresh thyme.Stir in the cooked quinoa,grated parmesan( to taste ),a slash of basil oil,salt and black pepper and serve immediately.The minute I finished eating this I went straight to the computer to type it up.This is pure Italian inspired joy and with the agreement of my boyfriend,perfect.

Artichoke and Green Olive Spread

I discovered this recipe in a blog recently,which the blogger adapted from another blog who adapted from another chef-When I read the recipe I instantly new it would be delicious so I made it for my boyfriends birthday and after about 20 comments of "its amazing!, what is it?" I feel its only good,just and right that I share it with a few more.
The beauty about this recipe is that you can have all the ingredients in the cuppard and when some one comes around you can whip up a dip (or spread )in about one minute.Eat with  breadsticks,toast or crunchy oven warmed bread.
An afterthought -this would be nice mixed a cream cheese -just a thought.

1 handful of cooked artichoke hearts(frozen,tinned,as you wish)
1 crushed garlic clove
half a handful of green olives(stoned)
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and squeezed
1 gurgle of  extra-virgin olive oil
Throw all the ingredients together and blend-how wonderfully simple.
These are hummus style rules-put less garlic in at first,the same goes for olive oil add more to taste.
This recipe doesn,t need salt because of the capers.
To play around a wee bit try adding some chopped cornichons,fresh thyme or lemon.