Recipe: Summer Delight with Shrimp + Guest: Excusatio Non Petita

Feel free to hate me for posting “Khashayar’s Summer Delight with Shrimp Topping” as winter nears here in Los Angeles. To my defense, Santa Ana winds are blowing in days that scorch and  spark fires. Add to that, party season went official as of Thanksgiving and I feel as huge as the whales headed for Mexico. Setting aside time to write (about my books here) and resting my digestive system is a matter of survival. To satiate all appetites, my honey’s recipe is followed by a wonderful guest blog post of a completely different taste.

Before we dive into either, a bit of news is that I started an online course (courtesy of my beloved public library) about publishing. It kicked off yesterday, with an assignment to compose a paragraph that uses the words ocean, summer, tree(s). Here’re what I wrangled:

“If Paradise Thunders” Sun glistens across crashing waves, sea spray making me lick my lips and wish I could drink the ocean. Seaweed sends up plumes of sand flies and earthy smells. Behind me palm fronds rustle, their coconuts stoic while their tree trunks groan. Summer thunder crackles in the distance. I rush to collect my things before the storm closes in.

Okay — let’s eat (again)!…

Khashayar’s Summer Delight with (or without) Shrimp Topping

Combine and artfully arrange the following ingredients to taste — (note: for vegetarians, this is also delicious without the shrimp:

• Roma tomatoes – sliced lengthwise.
• Onion, sliced, not diced : if you prefer onion that’s less spicy, first soak for 10 minutes in water, then rinse them, then dry them, then soak them for 10 minutes in lemon juice and drain to further remove their harshness.
• Cucumbers, sliced diagonally, then halved into half-rounds.
• Radishes sliced into rounds. Did you know that radish leaves are super tasty and even more nutritious than radish roots?
• Corn from a cob, the fresher the better: bake the corn for 10 minutes, then roast over fire for a few minutes, then cut off kernels and add either ghee (which is butter with its less heart-healthy solids skimmed off), butter, or olive oil.
• Optional: Avocado, if you have one you need to use up, otherwise no need to add. In this salad, it’s hard to see it under the veggies piled in the middle.
• Green beans, fresh.

At the very end, add on top:

• Crumbled feta
• Dill, fresh

Dressing

Combine the following to desired taste and consistency:

• Yogurt
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic, crushed, 2 cloves

Drizzle the dressing over top of salad, before possible addition of shrimp.

Also optional:

• Finish off with several grilled shrimps on top.

Shrimp

Combine to taste the following on a saucepan, low heat, for several minutes or until raw shrimp is cooked:

• Tomato paste
• Soy sauce
• Black Pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Oregano, dried and crushed
• Smoked paprika
• Shrimp: if using raw, sauté with above ingredients until cooked. If pre-cooked, stir into sauce.

Today’s guest blog post is by blogger Excusatio Non Petita (Latin for “no excuse asked”), who writes from Murcia, Spain. His pseudonym makes perfect sense, given that in addition to painting, giving talks about technology at a private international university, and working as a technical manager for a huge multinational IT service company — his preferred activities are data science, project management — and cybersecurity.

Always lyrical and profound, personal and expansive — this week’s guest blog post is by Excusatio Non Petita…

I have already spoken in great detail about my encounter with the gypsy. Won’t explain in depth so as not to bore you. Just will mention three things as a summary. One, that she was able to guess that I was the father of three. Two, that her prediction included at least two more children. Three, that my fullness would not come in Seville, where I lived at that time, but in Murcia, the land of my elders and my adopted homeland. I could not refuse her branch of Romero, which is the gift of the gypsies who tell fortunes in exchange for a few coins. She had invaded the bike lane I was riding on, so I had to stop so as not to run her over. I took all the coins I had in my pocket and gave them to her. She accepted them all but gave me one back. I did not examine it at that moment. She placed a gold real in my hand, a coin from the time of King Alfonso XII, whose value was a thousand times greater than the cents I had given her. Looking at my eyes, she said: “May what you share come back to you multiplied.” Not content with scaring me in this way, she looked at me again and said: “Ask for what you want, but don’t demand it.” Of course, my desire was to find the woman of my life. Without intending to be too demanding, I expressed my request and she replied: “Tall and defiant, blonde with light eyes, daughter and granddaughter of bullfighters, she will come from the darkness to bring light and joy to your life. You will think about it calmly and carefully, because you should not make promises that won’t be kept to a gypsy woman. You will visit the patriarch and ask for his permission and blessing. He already knows your history and knows your lineage.” That’s how it happened. A few weeks later she crossed my path, just as the gypsy had predicted. Her clear gaze was fixed on my eyes. Her impressive figure left me breathless. She took me by both hands and brought my body close to hers. She kissed me tenderly, without saying a word, and I kissed her lips, certain that she was my destiny. The memory of the ten years that followed remains indelible in my memory. The long illness that separated us was the most bitter episode of my life. Our son reminds me every day of her sincere love, her implacable will, her desire to endure in my destiny beyond death. Tall and blond like his mother, a Sevillian of equal prowess the same as her. He followed me, however, bound for the Mare Nostrum. He never wanted to separate from me, as his mother would have done if she remained among us. Life took me back to my elders’ homeland. His name is Alfonso, same as the King on the coin that the gypsy slipped through my fingers that warm morning, when she decided my future, linking it to a lineage of bullfighters with an austere character and unparalleled bravery.

Need a salad-day breather between holidays?