It's fun to julienne veggies

A few weeks ago, John and I went to a farmers market feast. There were at least twenty different chefs from local restaurants who created delicious dishes with ingredients from local farms. One of the dishes we tried had julienned zucchini. Now I don't like zucchini. In fact, I downright hate zucchini. Or I did anyway. But since we had paid for the feast in whole and the dishes were all small, I tried those little matchsticks of squash. And you know what? I liked it. I'm not sure if it was the fact that the zucchini was extra small or if I have actually started to like those evil green logs, but here's the recipe I improvised shortly after this discovery.

NOTE: Some of the photos of this recipe are a bit... odd. Or rather, a bit... purple. There's a reason for this, and I'll explain along the way. Trust me, this was a fantastic dinner and one I'll definitely make again.

Ingredients

• 1 medium or 2 small zucchini
• 2 large carrots
• 1 pound Halibut
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 Tbsp butter

Directions

There are several ways to julienne vegetables. I used my mandoline slicer and the whole process took less than 5 minutes. Now, see those carrots? Those are Purple Haze carrots. They are a deep purple on the outside and bright orange on the inside. They are super sweet.

The problem? Or the effect these have? They turn EVERYTHING you cook purple. It's worse than red cabbage! We'll see the results of this a bit later.

Next, melt some butter in a large skillet (preferably not a non-stick skillet). Season the halibut with salt and pepper and cook it over medium-high heat until the bottom is opaque. Flip the halibut and repeat. At this point, the halibut should be about 3/4 cooked. Remove the fish from the pan and add the white wine. Deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the julienned veggies and saute for 5-7 minutes.

Add the halibut back into the pan and cook the entire thing for another 5 minutes, until the fish is completely cooked. Serve, seasoned with some salt and pepper.

Patricia's Notes: This really was a great meal, though it was a bit odd to look at. The purple haze carrots sort of leached their color into both the zucchini and the fish. The next time I make this, I'll definitely use your standard orange carrots. It didn't need a lot of seasoning, just some salt and pepper. The butter and white wine took care of the rest of the flavor. I ended up breaking the halibut into a couple of pieces when I flipped it and it was much easier to work with after that.