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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JULY 2018 It’s easy to make July veggie month


With so much in season, it’s a culinary cornucopia of ingredients


For the next few months, all the best fruit and vegetables in the world are available fresh from BC fields, orchards, greenhouses and gardens, along with a wide variety of fresh herbs, delicious meats, poultry and seafood.


Jude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVES


What a banquet for those of us who love to cook. It’s no wonder some of the best of Canada’s chefs get their start in this province, and many of those return, along with chefs who got their start elsewhere. It’s inspiring to be in the midst of such stimulating plenty; such colourful and inspiring fresh fruits and vegetables and local proteins – and even world-class wines to accompany them. Seems to me that July’s meals should be eaten in the garden where those vegetables were grown. Food simply tastes better when eaten outdoors. I can’t explain why, but all your senses are sharpened in the fresh air and you appreciate the flavours in food more. July is an excellent month to test that out by going on a picnic, a camping trip or taking your meal out on the patio where you can smell the flowers and hear the birds chirping, and it’s even better if the sound of water is nearby. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a waterfall roaring in the background, a creek burbling over the rocks, waves crashing or lapping on the shore – or a water feature on your lawn. So, enjoy summer and the


opportunities to eat some of the freshest and best fruits and vegetables ever, outside where they will taste even better than you could have imagined.


Not as complicated as you would think: Shrimp and Chorizo Jambalaya. JUDIE STEEVES PHOTO SHRIMP & CHORIZO JAMBALAYA


This is nice and spicy and flavourful, and there’s a great mix of vegetables in it, most of which are currently in season here in BC. Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients; it’s easy to make. Vary the spicing to your taste. A fruity BC Pinot Noir or chilled, local rosé would be a good match with this.


1 large onion 4 mushrooms 2 garlic cloves


2 celery stalks


2 chorizo sausages 7-8 Roma tomatoes


2 tsp. (10 ml) Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. (5 ml) Sriracha hot sauce 1/2 tsp. (3 ml) cumin powder 1/4 tsp. (2 ml) turmeric Salt and pepper, to taste


1/2 tsp. (3 ml) paprika 4 bay leaves


1 1/4 c. (310 ml) chicken broth 1 red pepper


1/2 lb. (225 g) fresh shrimp


1 c. (250 ml) brown rice 1 green pepper 1 zucchini


2 tbsp. (30 ml) fresh parsley


• Chop onion and slice celery, mushrooms and chorizo sausages. Mince garlic. • I chopped frozen tomatoes with the skin removed, but you can use fresh or tinned to get about the same quantity. In total, with the stock, you’ll need about two cups of liquid to cook the one cup of rice. • I don’t like my peppers and zucchini too mushy, so I add them at the very last before cooking the rice. Chop them into chunks.


• Drizzle a little olive oil into a deep frypan over medium-high heat and soften the onion, adding the celery and mushrooms after the first few minutes, then the chorizo and garlic.


• Add the tomatoes and the spicing, then the rice and chicken broth and bring it all to bubbling.


• Chop and add the peppers and zucchini while that is happening and add them, mixing everything well.


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• As soon as it’s bubbling, top with a tight-fitting lid, turn the heat down to minimum and don’t peek for 40 minutes.


• Add the fresh shrimp to the top and cook for a further minute or two, just enough to heat them through, if they’re already cooked, and just enough for them to turn opaque if they are raw.


• Top with minced, fresh parsley and serve immediately. • Makes 3-4 servings.


NECTARINE SALAD


The light and piquant dressing is what makes this salad so refreshing, and I suspect other fresh fruits could be substituted for the nectarines. It’s really a two-part salad – the tangy topping ingredients and the mixed greens used underneath – and the quality of both are critical to the end result. To make this a full- meal salad, add crumbled, strong-flavoured cheese like feta or blue to the top, or a poached piece of chicken.


Dressing: One-inch knob of ginger


2 tbsp. (30 ml) lemon juice Pinch of five-spice powder


Coarse sea salt Salad:


2 fresh nectarines 1 cucumber


Chopped pecans or walnuts


• Mince the ginger into a tiny bowl or jug and add the olive oil, lemon juice, chili flakes or hot sauce, five-spice powder, salt and pepper. Mix well. • Chop the nectarines, onion and cucumber in dice into a small bowl.


• Prepare a mix of fresh greens, such as mesclun, or a combination of young kale, spinach, lettuces and other greens and herbs and tear into a salad bowl.


• Sprinkle the cubed fruit and vegetables with the well-mixed dressing and top the fresh greens with it just before serving. • Sprinkle with chopped nuts. • Serves 2-3.


1 small sweet red onion A mix of fresh greens


1 tbsp. (15 ml) olive oil Chili flakes, to taste


Fresh, cracked black pepper


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