Shrimp and Vegetable Medley

 My cravings have moved on from turkey to spring vegetables so what better veggie than asparagus!  This may sound bizarre but this recipe was created from one of my favourite home made pizza recipes.  I love the flavours on that pizza and so I decided to use the same ingredients except use couscous and white beans as the base.  Now don’t turn your nose up at that idea – it actually worked!  The flavours combined to offer a spring-like, comfort food, if there can be such a thing!

When I was mulling this idea over in my head, I asked my 11 year old nephew his opinion because he loves the pizza.  His reply was pretty funny – “Aunty, you come up with some pretty strange ideas and pretty weird ingredients but it always tastes great!“  I told him that was the best compliment he could give me, lol.

 This is another quick and easy recipe that simply involves sautéing the ingredients, making sure you use fresh herbs.  If you`re not a fan of couscous, you can use barley, rice, freekah, farro or skip it entirely.  I like to add the white beans for protein and I enjoyed the flavours they contributed to the dish.

When you read the list of ingredients, you might say – what was she thinking!  But trust me – it works.  If you are a vegetarian, skip the shrimp and it is still a hearty, full course meal.  I`m a big mushroom fan so I cooked a few extra as a little side dish.

With the news that the prices of fruits and veggies are going to skyrocket because of our harsh winter, I will be partnering with Mindy Whipple who has an inspiring blog called, ‘a dandelion diary’ to bring you some information about starting up your own garden.  We`ll even have a segment on patio gardening for folks living in apartments.  We`re really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I found a lovely website called Mom`s Confession,  that has a list of seasonal vegetables that you can keep in mind when you`re at the market to try and make those grocery dollars work for you.  They even have a printout.  I love this and will use it as a reference when planning future recipes.  A great reminder!

I’m linking this recipe this week to these fabulous bloggers.  Have a great day, everyone.  Cheers!