Haricots verts are thin, tender green beans. If you can't find them, use trimmed regular green beans, but add them to the pasta after 8 minutes of cooking since they'll take longer to cook. You can make the salad ahead, but dress it just before serving so the beans don't turn drab.
Shrimp and Grits, a low-country favorite, makes a hearty, one-dish dinner and is table-ready in 30 minutes. Sustainable Choice: Buy Pacific white shrimp farmed in recirculating systems or inland ponds.
Caribbean-influenced shrimp, skewered with sugarcane and basted with a dark rum glaze, rely on high heat to caramelize the glaze and infuse the shrimp from the inside out with the cane's mild sweetness.
The marinade for this dish makes the shrimp so flavorful, you won't even need a dipping sauce. Even those who claim they don’t like shellfish, really dig this appetizer. —Kendra Doss, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Serve with toasty French bread to sop up the sauce. To bake this when you are on vacation at the beach, purchase a large disposable roasting pan for easy cleanup.
The name of this highly seasoned Indian soup means "pepper water." It gets quite a kick from the combination of curry powder, ground ginger, and crushed red pepper, but you can halve those ingredients if you don't like spicy foods.
Day-old bread thickens this soup from Cathy Whims of Nostrana in Portland, giving it a custardy texture. The soup has a spicy kick, so cut back on the chile flakes if you'd prefer a milder flavor.
