Today we get to talk about two of my favorite topics: tasty seafood and sustainability! I have a delicious new recipe to share along with a really cool program that helps recycle denim and cut down on waste going into landfills. Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ program was created in 2006 by Cotton Incorporated to help divert textile waste by recycling old denim that is made from at least 90% cotton and turning it into something new like natural cotton fiber insulating materials.
By collaborating with retailers, brands and organizations to collect and recycle old denim, the program has diverted over 1,950 tons of denim from landfills and recycled over 3,900,000 pieces of denim since 2006. Blue Jeans Go Green™ is announcing a new collaboration this month with their first food home-delivery brand as part of the program — Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics®!
Vital Choice Seafood uses padded liners made of recycled denim to insulate their frozen products during the shipping process. I don’t know about you, but disposing excess, non-recyclable packaging when I get a shipment is such a headache (and I hate that it’s so bad for the environment!). So, rather than throw away the recycled denim insulation, the company is working with the Blue Jeans Go Green™ program and inviting their customers to mail-in the denim insulation from their seafood shipment along with any old denim (90% cotton or greater) for recycling. Customers are responsible for the cost of shipping, but Vital Choice Seafood provides a link for customers to print their own shipping label, which can be dropped off at various shipping partners. How cool is that?
I got to try out the process and see the recycled denim insulation firsthand, and bonus: I also got to try out some of the tasty products from Vital Choice Seafood. We are big fans of scallops at our house, and I seared them in butter and tossed with fresh ingredients from the garden like loads of spinach and herbs, and some seasonal tomatoes and corn over pasta. You can learn more about the Blue Jeans Go Green™ program by visitinghttps://bluejeansgogreen.org/ or checking them out on Instagram at @BlueJeansGoGreen, and scroll down for the scallops recipe!
- ½ lb. Spaghetti or other long noodle
- 4 Tbsp Butter, divided
- 1 Shallot, thinly sliced
- 1-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
- 1 Cup of Tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 5-6 Cups of Fresh Spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 Cup of Fresh Corn, cut from Cob
- 1 lb. of Fresh Scallops
- 1 Tsp. Paprika
- 2 Tbsp. of White Wine
- 1 Tbsp of Fresh Parsley, minced
- 1 Tbsp of Fresh Chives, minced
- Salt and Pepper
- Lemon
- Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook pasta as directed to al dente, reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water before draining.
- In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and sauté shallots, garlic and tomatoes until softened. Add Spinach to the pan and continue to cook until the spinach has wilted. Fold the fresh corn into the mixture and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Pat scallops dry and season lightly with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter to the pan over medium-high heat and place the scallops into the hot pan. Sear scallops and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Pour wine into the pan to deglaze and scrape up any bits at the bottom of the pan.
- Add spinach-corn-tomato mixture back to the pan, as well as the spaghetti, reserved pasta water, and fresh herbs. Toss to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Plate the dish and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving.
Please note: This post was created in paid partnership with Cotton Incorporated. and Blue Jeans Go Green™ program. All opinions, images and content are my own; thank you for supporting brands that support this site.
Blue Jeans Go Green™ is a trademark of Cotton Incorporated.
