Green Goddess Shrimp and Farro Bowls

I’m seven and half months into motherhood, and I still haven’t lost all my baby weight. I thought for sure, by now, I’d be just like a lot of the other moms out there who are slimmer post-baby, but I’ve had no such luck. Granted, I still stuff myself with pasta, nightly desserts, and hoppy beers, so that could be part of the reason the weight isn’t just falling off, but honestly, I figured it would just kind of melt away without any effort whatsoever. It sounds sort of ridiculous when you say it aloud, doesn’t it?

Because I’m still mostly nursing (we started incorporating a little bit of formula a few weeks ago for various reasons), I can’t really diet hardcore like I want to, so instead, I’m going to try my hand at eating super healthy, filling, meals during the week, and then still let myself go wild on the weekend – because eating healthy a hundred percent of the time, just isn’t for me, even if the scale tells me otherwise.

We’re from the Midwest, so Kevin has a sort of meat-and-potatoes mentality. I mimic those thoughts somewhat, except for me, it’s more of an I-need-starch-in-every-meal mentality. While I also love a roasted potato or side of pasta, lately (as in the last year or two), my go-to healthy starch has been farro. I adore it’s nutty taste and chewy texture, and I often throw it in salads or swap it out for quinoa in various recipes, but I rarely have it as a complete meal. However, if you throw a horde of summer veggies and sautéed shrimp in the mix, I can definitely get on board with it sufficing for a complete meal.

I settled on describing the recipe as green goddess, because, well, there’s quite a bit of green sprinkled throughout, but also because the vinaigrette everything is tossed in, is sort of reminiscent of the classic green dressing, sans the mayo and sour cream. Fresh basil, chives, garlic, and lemon juice are pureed in the bottom of a blender, and then a little bit of olive oil is drizzled in to emulsify the acid with the fat. A touch of salt and pepper complete the easy dressing, and it’s ready to be tossed with the remaining ingredients.

While the farro boils, the zucchini, garlic, and shrimp get cooked in a little bit of olive oil, and seasoned again, with some salt and pepper. While everything is still piping hot, it all gets tossed in the vinaigrette. You could serve it hot, or, let it cool to room temperature, either way, it won’t last long…