My mother had no interest in cooking, but did what she could to get a nutritious dinner on the table with the least possible effort. The concept of a "recipe" was virtually unknown to her. Most nights, dinner was composed of exactly one item from each of the four food groups, for example: a baked potato, boiled peas, broiled chicken, and ice cream. No two ingredients touched each other until they got to our plates.
We always had plenty of shrimp in the house (my father was a seafood importer), so my mother took advantage of this food supply by keeping bowls of boiled shrimp with ketchup and horseradish in the refrigerator. Then, on special nights, my mother would give it all she had and make what we called a "dish." We celebrated her efforts at combining ingredients, but the results were never worth the wait.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Boil or steam the shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
Step 2
Slice the two zucchinis in 1/2-inch-thick rounds and boil in water until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain the water, return the zucchini to the pan, and add the can of stewed tomatoes to the zucchini. Return to heat and simmer briefly until heated through.
Step 3
Arrange rice on a plate. Cover with shrimp. Top off with the stewed-tomato-and-zucchini mixture. Garnish with grated cheese.
