What’s Cooking: Autumn Succotash, Not Your Usual Suspect

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

OK. We have covered the Main Event, The Turkey, and two ways you can cook him (or her, if you get a hen), baked or fried so that he’s not just very pretty but very tasty. And we have written about two of the favorite side dishes, dressing , the unstuffed, and sweet potatoes with a new kick, as well as a couple of twists on traditional desserts, pumpkin and meatless mince.

It’s now time to discuss the least, popular dish on the table, vegetables. At our house, my son-in-law has his favorite green been casserole with those crunchy onion crumbles on top, which is not on the top of my list for flavor. This year a Trader Joe’s opened near us and the s-i-l has found a new variation on his favorite dish, which he promises, I’ll like. I will let you know.

My aunt loves succotash but nobody else like the tasteless, gritty, mushy lima beans. When I was a kid that would be the only thing left on my plate. Last year, when she came up for a surprise visit, my daughter, her favorite great niece (and her only one), found a variation on the old standard that our dear aunt loved and I ate.

The recipe calls for edamame. For those of you who aren’t familiar with edamame (the web site is cute) is an immature soy bean that has been harvested before it starts to harden:

The word Edamame means “Beans on Branches,” and it grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers.

Like all soy beans, edamame are a nutritional power house containing carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and micronutrients, particularly folic acid, manganese and vitamin K. The edamame beans contain higher levels of abscisic acid (a plant hormone), sucrose, and protein than other types of soybean, and may contain carotenoids, which acts as an anti-oxident.

All right enough with the educational blather. You can find edamame in the frozen section of most large supermarkets, like Stop ‘n Shop, ShopRite, etc. The s-i-l found then in Trader Joe’s frozen section already pealed. Woo-hoo! Less work.

Autumn Succotash

Ingredients:

  2 slices thick-cut bacon (about 2 ounces), chopped

   1 shallot, finely chopped

   2 cups fresh edamame or thawed frozen edamame or one 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans, thawed

   1 pound frozen corn kernels, thawed

   1/4 cup water

   1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preparation:

Heat heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and sauté until fat begins to render, about 1 minute. Add shallot and sauté until bacon and shallot begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add edamame, corn, and 1/4 cup water and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl and sprinkle with parsley.