A Simple Feast

Note: I read and enjoy every single comment. At the moment, though, the blog isn't letting me reply to them. I hope to resolve that soon!

I had an amazing culinary experience yesterday. It probably helped that I didn't eat until 5:30 pm, ensuring that I was good and hungry. I love food to  begin with, obviously, but when I'm hungry I really enjoy it.

Anyhow, one of my errands was the grocery store and I bought a lot of fresh produce and found some cheap  inexpensive packages of meat. One of those was a $2+ package of raw shrimp. It was a generous single serving.

As I was putting the food away, I boiled water for the shrimp and dumped them in. I then cored and sliced the fresh pineapple I'd purchased. I intended to make a nice green salad, too, but somehow I found myself eating the flesh off the core and rind of the pineapple. I have the handy-dandy utensil that creates a spiral of beautiful slices in about 15 seconds flat, but there would be quite a bit of waste if you threw away the trimmings. Besides, it's more fun (as far as I'm concerned) to gnaw the good stuff off the trimmings, kind of like corn on the cob, than it is to eat the "prime" slices.

Most of the slices went into the fridge for tomorrow because the core, rind and ends gave me a nice portion of fruit. I also ate a few fresh strawberries but that stung after chewing on the pineapple; my lips and tongue were quite sensitive and they let me know right away that the berries were still acidic and not summer-ripe. Note to self: Eat the strawberries first, then the pineapple!

I took the hot shrimp out of the shells and poured some melted butter over them. They made a great counterpoint to the pineapple and strawberries and I had no interest in additional food so the salad fixings are still in the fridge and on the counter.

I'll have to remind myself today to make and eat the salad before I taste the pineapple and/or meat. if I don't, I may just skip salad again. I have no clue why, but I'm a maniac for fresh pineapple right now. I reacted the same way at the recent pot luck and buffet visits (see earlier post, Out of the Shadows, Into the Sun.)

Of course, the very best thing about my feast last night was that it was so delicious it felt somehow naughty, yet it was totally legal under my easygoing paleo approach. I didn't eat until I was actively hungry, I ate food I liked and I skipped the salad because I no longer felt hungry. The only item worthy of possible debate would be the butter and I'm not asking for feedback on that. I use butter on hot shrimp, period. If I had chilled them, they would've gone into my salad with the usual vinegar and EVOO.