Maybe I should get back in the kitchen where I belong...

A dream job, I tell ya. That’s the first thing I thought when producer Rose Thornton and director Jon Sumple informed me that my mission, should I choose to accept it, would be to help a family make greener choices when it comes to their eating habits. First, they said, you’ll whip through their kitchen, flinging cabinets open and exposing their dirty, perhaps trans-fat coated secrets, hidden cleverly behind organic stock boxes. Then, you can take them around the city and educate them about sustainable food choices, and following THAT, you can cook for them and show them how to eat simply, deliciously and with less impact on the planet. Sign me up, I said. I’m game! Show me to these cabinets. Lead me to their refrigerator.

Oh, it wasn’t all a corn-syrup laden cake walk. The family didn’t make it easy for me. There were no arrows pointing to their dirty little food secrets, no red carpets laid out leading me to their processed breakfast sausage patties. But I got them. Oh, yes, I got them. I just had to locate their basement freezer and snag their bag of groceries when they walked in the door, arms laden with fresh purchases. I got my material and I caught them, their unaware fingers gripped around some farmed, frozen imported shrimp. Caught them red-handed, I did, and as it turns out, like most folks, completely unaware of the many issues with imported shrimp.

That's better... Preparing to work the magic.

Truth is, most of us are unaware of the issues surrounding our food choices. It’s easier to digest that way. But Mission: Sustainable isn’t about helping us choke down the overly processed; it’s about making informed choices. Choices, it turns out, that can be delicious. In the filming of our pilot episode, I took their farmed Indonesian shrimp and Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and I raised them some homemade polenta, braised Northwest greens and wild U.S. pan-seared shrimp. I’d like to think they got the better end of my proverbial spoon.

Pan-fried wild shrimp with green chile and cheese polenta   

Ingredients:

1 pound wild U.S. shrimp—peeled, deveined

1 tablespoon Ancho chile powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon thyme, dried

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 cups stock, chicken or pork

2 cups milk, whole

1/2 cup polenta (I like Estancia organic, found in bulk at PCC)

1 cup cheddar cheese (I like Beecher’s Flagship)

2 ounces green chiles, mild—canned are fine, chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, unsalted

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions:

Place the peeled and deveined shrimp in a sealable bowl. Add the spices and orange juice. Cover and shake up to coat with rub. Set aside.

Heat the milk, stock and salt to a simmer. Whisk in the polenta gradually, reduce heat and stir for 5 minutes until creamy and tender. Add cheese and chilies and mix in. Serve right away.

Heat a skillet over high heat. Add the butter and oil and, when sizzling, add the shrimp. Cook over high heat without disturbing about a minute on each side, until lightly browned. Don’t overcook. When shrimp just start to curl and turn pink, they are done.

Serve with braised greens (below).

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch mustard greens—leaves removed from rib, chopped, rib discarded

1 bunch chard—leaves removed from rib, ribs and leaves sliced separately

1 bunch kale—leaves removed from rib, chopped, rib discarded

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups stock, chicken, pork, or vegetable

1 pinch red chile flakes

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar—or more to taste

Instructions:

Heat a sauce pot over medium high heat. Add oil and then greens and salt. Stir and cook for about a minute. Add stock, chile flakes, honey and vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook down for about 20 minutes, until tender. Serve in bowls with pot liquor.