Hooray for being near the ocean!

This past Sunday, Erin and I visited the Maine Avenue Fish Market today, D.C.'s old-school seafood market. It was 50 degrees and drizzly, but man, the fresh-steamed blue crabs with Old Bay smelled heavenly in that weather! We picked up one pound of wild sea scallops (Bay, farmed is supposed to be a more sustainable choice according to the guide I had with me
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/MBA_SeafoodWatch_SoutheastGuide.pdf , so we chose "Good Alternative"), one pound of medium wild-caught Gulf shrimp and one pound of medium wild-caught Carolina brown shrimp.

Monterey Bay Aquarium even has guides for the Central U.S., etc. Check the out - the oceans and your future dinner plans will thank you.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

We made this trip after Erin brought home "fresh" farm-raised shrimp from Ecuador from our local Giant (the big supermarket chain here). She knew better, but wanted shrimp right-away for a recipe. Well, with the Carolina browns in the freezer, we had a fresh, hopefully sustainable and American-job supporting seafood dinner this evening.

Carolina brown shrimp - much sweeter/more flavorful that mass-produced, imported shrimp



Erin's scallops with a citrus-butter-flour finish



Obey the Old Bay and you'll have tasty shrimp!



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Repost: Erin's Amazing Stuffed Eggplant! : )

[Lebanese Stuffed Eggplant from the incredible Smitten Kitchen blog.]

Stuffed Eggplant with "the goody" spreading out on the plate - great for sopping up with bread!




The Greek-esque salad was a perfect complement to the eggplant