In our home, we try to follow the wisdom of Michael Pollan–Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Our caveat (which I am certain he would approve of)–Local when possible. This, of course, means lots of trips to local Farmer’s Markets. Right now, its the best time of year for the market, particularly here at the beach. Monster zucchini and yellow squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes of every size, peppers hot or sweet, peaches, plums, pears, apples, green beans, okra, watermelon, onions, corn, and (best of all) shrimp and scallops are all common fare…and if you get there early, you *might* even catch some blueberries.
Our last family trip to the market included a road side stop at the local purveyor of seafood where we picked up a pound of shrimp and a pound of scallops, and the following is some of the food that followed:
Green beans with pears and dried cranberries
These were frozen greenbeans which were cooked unseasoned and then allowed to cool a bit. Some super juicy, sweet, ripe pears were cut into strips (sort of a fat julienne size) and tossed in with a handful of dried cranberries (dried cherries would have been good too), a dash of apple cider vinegar (about a capful, to make it a mild sort of sweet and sour with the pears) was sprinkled in with some garlic salt and pepper.
Chickadee, the green bean connoisseur, devoured her serving without hesitation and even Sharkbait, who normally ignores green things, nibbled away a good portion of his.
Shrimp with Pasta and Spinach Stuffed Squash
These were the shrimp we bought, cleaned and cooked in (real) butter with a splash of moscato (only white wine we had in the fridge, and quite tasty with shrimp) and minced garlic, then served over the pasta.
The zucchini and yellow squash were sliced long ways, deseeded and popped in the microwave for 1-2 minutes (since they get broiled, it ensures the squash is cooked all the way through). They were then stuffed with fresh spinach and halved grape tomatoes and topped with grated Parmesan and (real) butter and broiled for a bit (sorry, I couldn’t tell you how long–I’m infamous for just popping things in the oven and periodically checking on them til I think they are done).
Of course…the big fun in preparing fresh shrimp is cleaning them–of in this case, letting The Hubby show Chickadee how to do it (she was only squeamish for the first one!):
