I know as soon as you connect the dots, you’re going to say that the last thing that describes Edgar Allen Poe and his short story, The Tell-Tale Heart is a salad, especially one that includes an ingredient as terrifying as an artichoke. But just hear me out.

The Tell-Tale Heart is a short, but criminal, first person story of a nameless man as he justifies, carries out, and is tortured by committing the murder of a man whom he simply calls, the old man.

It started with the old man’s eyes. Poe described it as the eyes belonging to a vulture. There’s a saying that they eyes are the window to the soul, and a soul is the essence of the heart. Maybe that’s two phrases. But even though the nameless man killed and hid the body of the old man beneath the floor boards, the beating of the heart and the essence of the old man haunted him for a few brief paragraphs.

So, a salad? Really? Yes, a roasted artichoke heart and heart of palm salad, but this salad won’t haunt you into a mad verbal frenzy. Strangely enough, this salad immediately popped into my head when I decided to cover this story for the blog. The how can only be attributed to one of my college roommates, Allie, who made this delicious salad all the time in our dorm.

Don’t fret, Poe will get the dark, devilish recipe that you’d assume I’d whip up for one of his works. It’s coming. Be patient.

Artichoke-Heart of Palm Salad

Ingredients:

6 Artichokes (or 1 cup of ready to use artichoke hearts)

3 Bay leaves

1 Lemon

1 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Teaspoon pepper

1 Can of heart of palm, chopped into thick circles

1 Cup black olives, sliced in half

1 Cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1 Cup of portabella mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 Can of cannellini beans

1/4 Cup of sharp provolone cheese, sliced thinly

3 Heads of romaine lettuce

1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 Cup, plus 2 tablespoons, olive oil

Directions:

1. In a LARGE pot, add enough water to cover the tops of your artichokes, 3 bay leaves the sliced lemon, salt and pepper on medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until the artichoke leaves easily come off. This will take about 25 minutes.
2. Remove artichokes from water. Then with tongs, squeeze the tops of the artichokes and the heart will easily come off. With a spoon, scrape out the hairs and slice the artichoke heart into chunks.
3. Place artichokes on a roasting pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. In a 400 degree fahrenheit oven, roast artichokes until golden brown. Remove and let cool.
4. Once the artichokes are cool, wash and chop your lettuce. In a large bowl, add lettuce, the artichokes, heart of palm, tomatoes, cannellini beans, black olives, portabella mushrooms, and provolone cheese.
5. Whisk together the olive oil and balsamic. Drizzle over salad and toss together.

“Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers, of my sagacity.” ~ The Tell-Tale Heart