At the Market This Week

Basia HellwigJune 5, 20101 Mins read7 Views

Strawberries, summer squash…

Strawberries are down from $7 to $5 a box this week, 2 for $9. The pleasure of eating these beauties is excuse enough, but knowing that they are full of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory goodness somehow makes it even better.

Summer squash are starting to show up. Golden and green zucchini, straightnecks, and two round varieties. One was small and sunshine yellow; the other larger green one, the sign told me, was 8-ball zucchini.

The strawberries barely made it home from the market they were so tasty, but I still have the zucchini to work with so I plan to make Quinoa with Corn and Zucchini, one of many favorite recipes from Martha Rose Shulman, the author of Mediterranean Harvest who writes a column for the New York Times.

This is a good example of how eating the Mediterranean diet doesn’t always literally mean eating Mediterranean dishes. Quinoa (keen-wah) is an ancient grain native to the Andes. But the combination of a whole grain, vegetables and a small amount of cheese fits the bill perfectly.

There’s no local corn in sight yet, of course, so I’m substituting ¾ cup of frozen white corn from Trader Joe’s. I think it’s hard to distinguish from fresh-off-the-cob. (Do I hear gasps?) I only use 2 cups of liquid in this recipe; for some reason, the quinoa always ends up soggy when I use 3. And since I just made an excursion to Greek Queens (more about that soon), I have wonderful arahova feta to crumble on top.

Lazy Mediterraneanista sometimes makes a meal of this dish. Quinoa is a complete protein, and the different favors and textures—the salt of the creamy feta, the sweet corn, the juicy crunch of the zucchini, the nutty bite of quinoa—make it very satisfying.