Artichokes are my culinary announcement of spring. In that spirit, I visited Fox Point Farms in March in Encinitas, within Leucadia, where they were growing a row of large artichoke plants on their two acres of vegetable plots. There chef Joel Jordan of Fox Point Farms’ restaurant, Haven Farm + Table, picked a beauty to demonstrate how to break them down and then proceeded to share three terrific recipes a world away from just steaming to show how versatile these thorny veggies are. We had pan-seared artichoke hearts with tarragon aioli and crispy sweet potato strings, artichoke green onion deep with melted manchego cheese, and lemon artichoke fritters with herbed crema. Each was better than the next—and very doable for home cooks. So, head over to my story in The San Diego Union-Tribune and get the recipes! And, thank you to photographer Sandy Huffaker for his gorgeous photos!