LIGHTLY FRIED ARTICHOKE HEARTS IN GARLIC-HERB BATTER

"This is one of the regional recipes that comes from my neck of the country! You can find deep-fried artichoke hearts at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Northern California), or the Garlic Festival (Gilroy, California), or at a few restaurants and Italian delis. I fashioned this recipe after my memories of the artichoke hearts I used to look forward to in Santa Cruz – they were battered in an herb batter, then deep-fried. For this light version, I whipped up a lighter batter and pan-fried the artichokes in a little bit of oil."

2 (6-oz. each) (170 g) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained (reserve 1/4 cup juice*) (about 1 1/3 cup drained artichoke hearts)
2 tablespoons egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon Italian herb blend
3/4 tsp. minced garlic
6 tablespoons Reduced Fat Bisquick pancake mix
1 tablespoon canola oil
Shredded or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Combine the artichoke hearts, artichoke heart juice, egg substitute, pepper, herb blend, and minced garlic in a medium-sized bowl. Gently stir in the pancake mix to make a nice batter.

Heat the canola oil in large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat.

Spoon the artichokes, one at a time, into the hot pan using a slotted spoon, making sure there’s enough batter surrounding the artichoke hearts to coat them nicely. Fry until golden brown on the bottom, then flip over and brown the other side (about 3 minutes a side).

Top the hot artichoke hearts with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and fresh, finely chopped parsley if desired. Serve immediately.

*Note:
If you are using marinated artichoke hearts that have oil in the marinade, you can spoon off the top layer of oil, then use a basting bulb to siphon off the juice from the bottom of the jar.

Makes 5 Servings (about 4 quartered artichoke hearts per serving)
Source: Fry Light, Fry Right! Fried-Food Flavor Without Deep Frying by Elaine Magee