Easy One Pan Mediterranean Shrimp

We all want to eat better, but why don’t we? Life often gets in the way. It is tempting just to grab something and be done with it. With the continued rising costs of take out food, this gets expensive. On top of this, many quick options are the least healthy for us. With about 70% of Americans being classified as obese, it’s time we take a hard look at what we eat.
You can eat better without too much effort by planning simple meals. Take one day out of your week to make a list of what you will cook for dinner over the next week. Then, shop and make sure you have everything on hand. You will eat better quality food while saving money.
One of our favorite easy go to recipes are one-pan meals. We love the flexibility because you can substitute many ingredients for others you prefer. We also use meals like this to make use of fresh produce that is sitting in our fridge and will soon start to go bad. On the nights we cook a meal like this, we open the vegetable drawers in our fridge and do a complete cleanout.
As manager of our Newhall and Canyon Country farmers markets, I have access to some of the freshest produce you can get. Farmers market produce is typically picked and sold to customers within 12-48 hours. Compare that to supermarkets where produce is typically 2 weeks to 2 months old. Fresher produce tastes better, is more nutritious and does not go bad as fast. This reduces food waste.
This one pan recipe uses shrimp. Both of our markets host West Coast Seafood who bring the best quality fresh seafood to Santa Clarita. Their shrimp are all wild caught from the Sea of Cortez. It is available in several sizes and often some are available cleaned, shelled and ready to cook. Leading health experts recommend avoiding cheap farmed shrimp for a wide variety of health reasons. Shrimp cooks quickly which is why we love using it in this recipe.
The vegetables listed in this recipe are in season right now and available at our markets. Summer squash is always great along with tomatoes but you can use any vegetables you want. Our market also hosts an olive oil farmer which we use in this recipe. Olive oil is our favorite for its health benefits. Health experts recommend avoiding cheap oils such as canola, vegetable, corn or sunflower. Finally, the feta cheese in this recipe comes from a dairy we host. It is high quality, very tasty and crumbles well.
This recipe will show you how easy it is to eat better at home.

DIRECTIONS
1. In a bowl toss shrimp with 2 t of olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, paprika, oregano and salt/pepper.
2. On a large baking sheet or dish, add remaining olive oil around the dish. Add cleaned and diced vegetables to the dish and stir around, mixing with the olive oil. Spread vegetables out evenly. Add shrimp on top of vegetables and spread out so the shrimp are not on top of each other.
3. Place in a preheated 450 degree oven on the middle rack and bake for 11 minutes. Shrimp are cooked when they turn pink and the edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and top with olives, cilantro and feta cheese. Place back into oven under broiler for 1 minute if desired to aid the cheese in melting.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients
2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and cleaned
1 Large red or white onion
1 pint basket cherry tomatoes or 1/2 lb tomatoes diced
1 pound summer squash, chopped into bite sized pieces
3 cloves garlic
Juice from one lemon
4 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 Cup sliced green or black olives
1 Cup feta cheese
1/4 cup cilantro
2 t oregano
2 t smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

The Old Town Newhall Farmers Market operates every Saturday from 8:30 until 1pm in the parking lot of the Old Town Newhall library. The Canyon Country Farmers Market operates every Wednesday from 4pm until 8pm in the parking lot of the Canyon Country Community Center. Both markets are certified farmers markets and operate year round, rain or shine. The markets can be found on Facebook, Instagram or at www.newhallfarmersmarket.com and www.canyoncountryfarmersmarket.com.

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