Remember when peas came from pods?

On Tuesday night I made one of my favorite quick meals for when I am dining solo. Organic whole wheat linguine, shrimp from Trader Joe's ( which I realize isn't the freshest or most ethical way to get shrimp), and whatever vegetables I have around. This time I used white turnips, onion, tomato, garlic scapes, and chive. I sauté the vegetables in olive oil, and when they are about done I throw in the shrimp. Then I toss everything with the linguine, drizzle a little olive oil and some cracked pepper and I am ready to eat! Oh and I added the chive blossoms.

James calls my creation mystery pasta. It is no mystery to me.

Then on Wednesday James went to the farmers market in Union Square and did a midweek shopping. Isn't this beautiful?

There were eggs, bread, cucumber, lettuce, strawberries, last of the season asparagus, potatoes, a whole chicken, flowers, collard greens, peas, sugar snap peas. That evening he prepared himself a belated birthday dinner and invited Brother and I to join the feast. First he let the chicken sit with a Jamaican jerk rub in fridge for a few hours. The chicken was so moist and had so much flavor. There was also roasted fingerling potatoes and collard greens. Brother said he ate something similar at a restaurant in the city the night before and it wasn't nearly as good as what James made.
And tonight? Tonight Chef James made a risotto using the asparagus and peas from the farmers market. It melted in my mouth. Before I elaborate on the risotto though I would like to ask, why and how men can eat so much, so fast? Tonight it was like I was using a fork and James was eating with a shovel. Brother eats like that always.
The risotto was really a masterpiece and the best one he has made yet.

Also tonight I tasted a fresh pea. I don't know why it took twenty-six years for me to know a fresh pea. I am sure I have had them before, maybe in Turkey when I was a child. Tonight something clicked. Or popped rather, a fresh pea pops. I can never eat prepackaged peas. This weekend we will purchase a crate of peas pods, shuck them, and freeze them. And then only eat peas ever again.