Battle Mint, Part 2: Farmers Market Salad with Minted Shrimp

The most recent Culinary Smackdown wasn't a battle at all, as I was the only participant. But here is my mint dish anyway. In case you missed Part 1, I took my inspiration from what I found at a bunch of local farmers markets. Then, given our heat wave, I added one of my favorite cold foods, shrimp.

My farm market finds included okra and some intriguing purple pole beans (they're at the bottom of this photo).

The okra I cut into 1/2 inch chunks, sauteed in a bit of bacon fat, shallot, and chopped mint, then spritzed with vinegar, and let come to room temp. I steamed the purple beans – which turned more green during cooking – and marinated them in olive oil, balsamic, chopped shallot, mustard, torn mint, and salt. Hot veg soaks in marinade well. Then I refrigerated them for my cold dinner dish.

To accompany my salad, I couldn't resist a slice of the toasted garlic scapes ciabatta from Atwood Family Farms that I found at Bellevue Farmers Market, along with my new favorite Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese, their brie, which I eventually sprinkled a chiffonade of mint on to as well.

To dress the cold shrimp, I combined mayo, mustard, smoked paprika, a bit of caper brine, minced shallot and mint, and lemon juice and zest. I added torn mint to my salad greens, dressed them with the mint vinaigrette I'd marinated the beans in, and assembled my plate.

Cookerati, our host for this Culinary Smackdown, says she'll award me the win this time, by default. What other choice does she have? Let me know if you'd like to keep the Smackdown going or if you'd like to take a summer break. There's so much great summer bounty to cook with, but this is also the season of vacations, lots of other tempting activities, and abysmal heat and storms. If you'd like to participate and have any suggestions for the next Smackdown theme, I'm all ears :)

June Culinary Smackdown, Part 1: Farmers Market Inspiration

I thought about titling this post "What If We Threw a Smackdown and Nobody Came?" It's been crazy hot everywhere (except the Pacific Northwest?). We've been contending with storms, power outages, vacations, who knows what in our personal lives, plus lots of summertime opportunities. Our Smackdown host this month, Diana from Cookerati, was kind enough to extend the June deadline for Battle Mint to July 2 since she's been vacationing in Colorado. And I kinda got my Battle Mint entry together, thanks to some farmers market inspiration.

Last Saturday morning I stopped by Bellevue Farmers Market, where Chef Matt Buschle of Virgil's was doing a cooking demo with local product from the market, including chickens from Atwood Village Family Farm. I've gotten eggs and this hearty loaf of garlic scape ciabatta from Atwood before – now I know to check out their chickens too.

I ran into friends from Slow Food Cincinnati, who were covering the Thistlehair Farm booth featured on the Boone County Farm Tour. Matt gifted me with some mint, and I knew it was a sign I'd better get my dish made and a post up.

But first I had to scurry off to meet Katie of Taste and See Cincy, another Smackdown buddy who didn't have time to post this month. Katie and I met at the Boone County Farmers Market in Burlington, KY, which this time of year is open 7 days a week. In the oppressive heat, we hit only 3 of the 15 farms on the Boone County Farm Tour, but our mutual favorite was Thistlehair Farm.

Thistlehair's onsite farm stand is open Thursday and Friday, 10:00-7:00, and we loved our tour of this organic farm, where Vickie and Ed Tewes cultivate lots of heirloom vegetables and are branching out into asparagus and even artichokes - yes, in Kentucky. They also raise bees. This whimsical structure is where they demonstrate pollination.

McGlasson's is also charming, and where I found fresh okra.

I'm headed to the river to visit friend Cindie in the morning and will be back later in the week with the actual dish I made for Battle Mint. Meanwhile, have you ever tried adding mint to a BLT? Mint wakes up this old favorite. And somehow cools you down at the same time.

Happy 4th to all!