Steamed Artichokes with Almond Saffron Dip

This is one of those easily veganized Food Network recipes--all you need to substitute is some nondairy yogurt, preferably unsweetened. (Most commercial ones are rather cloying if you ask me.)

Now, this is not something that you fix as an impromptu snack, but it'd be a weird side dish and, otherwise, would probably cause difficulty and confusion at parties. So, ultimately, I'm not sure how this recipe fits into my life, other than that it was intriguingly different from my usual collection, and also pretty damn tasty, despite having to wait ages for it to be ready.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that involved; the most work you do is prep those damn prickly petaled artichokes (sitting around passively for an hour while they steam), sauté some onions & garlic, and then puree all the sauce ingredients.

A note on eating the artichokes: If you aren't familiar with artichoke anatomy, then please do some internet "research" before you eat the inedible parts of this un-bloomed flower (i.e. the choke). Fuckers write "How To" articles for a reason, you know.

To surmise, there's a little nugget of nom at the base of each petal, which you scrape off by biting the petal and dragging your teeth downwards (after dipping in sauce, of course). Eventually, you run out of petals, and then take a utensil to scrape off the choke from the artichoke 'heart', which you then consume with more sauce.

All that's left in the end...