What we ate

It seems that every season, I stumble upon a recipe that suddenly become the recipe of the season. I make it once and I'm completely hooked. We eat it multiple times. I rave about it to my friends. I post it on the blog--you know, the usual. I even think about past seasons in reference to the starring recipe.."remember that summer when all we ate was The Salad?" or "no no, that was the winter of Tikka Masala." This year the recipe came a little late, but it came nonetheless.

I found it in my Everyday Food and was mainly drawn to it because it looked like a good way to use up a decent chunk of the bulging bag of cherry tomatoes Grandpa 2 sent us home with.

Truthfully—I didn't think it would be that great. I didn't anticipate wanting to make it again immediately. I was very much mistaken.

I feel like this is more of a method than a recipe, though I'm glad I started with a recipe. Now I know that my heart sings over cherry tomatoes that have burst in a hot pan and that anything I add to them is really just the gravy. The first night I made it I included shrimp. Tonight I didn't have shrimp, but I did have whole wheat spaghetti. The origional recipe calls for arugula, but I used baby chard. Some fresh thyme is a rock star in this dish, though without it I wouldn't be like, "hey...where's the thyme?" Next time I'll add summer squash. If I had cream in my fridge I would add a splash of that too. It would also be good topped with some fancy cheese. It think you get the idea.

This sauce is awesome if "finished" with a pat of butter. If you're into that sort of thing. Which I am.

Summer Tomatoes + Chard

(aka: What we ate late summer 2010)

1-2 T. olive oil

1 C. cherry tomatoes

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 handfuls swiss chard (the smaller/younger the better)

kosher salt + pepper

juice of 1 lemon

1 T. butter

1 t. fresh thyme

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and stir until they begin to blister and break. Add garlic and stir briefly (30 sec.). Add shrimp and cook (stirring often) until almost opaque. Add chard and season with salt and pepper (I used a couple generous pinches of salt). and stir until wilted. Add lemon juice, butter, and thyme and toss to combine.

Garnish with your favorite cheese, toss with pasta, or eat straight out of the pan.

Enjoy