Spring Succotash

This buttery sauteed medley of corn, lima beans, red onion and red pepper finished off the heat with sweet grape tomatoes, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and basil makes the perfect side dish for grilled chicken and fish.  I often substitute edamane for the lima beans if I want to pack a bigger protein punch. I love the flavors meddling together and the colors are bright and vibrant.

I don’t think it’s much fun to talk about food without a story to go with it, but I have a bit of writer’s block today.  Luckily I can still cook.  When my golf swing gets out of whack I try to simplify, simplify, simplify.  So here is my attempt to apply this wisdom to my blog post today:

Succotash.  Inherited from native American Indians!  Try this!  Fresh!  Yummy!  The dish is infinitely better if you use fresh corn just shucked off the cob!  Grape tomatoes are ingenious and add an unexpected flavor burst in your mouth!  The basil matches perfectly with the sweetness in the corn! Gets your kids to eat vegetables!  Quick, easy!  Love, love love this dish!

Spring Succotash

loosely inspired by Cooking Light

Ingredients

1 cup red onion, large dice

2 TBSP butter (I always end up using a bit more)

2 TBSP olive oil

3-4 ears fresh shucked sweet corn, cut off cob (yields about 2-3 cups)

2 cups frozen lima beans, thawed (can substitute edamane)

1 red pepper, seeded and large dice

1 cup sweet grape tomatoes, cut in halves

4-5 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (click on link to my blog post explaining how to do this)

salt (generous) and pepper to taste

squirt of fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste

Method

Dice the red onion

Melt the butter and olive oil together in a saute pan over medium-high  heat.  Add the diced red onion and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Lightly salt and pepper.

Cut the fresh shucked sweet corn off the cob with a serrated knife.

Add the corn to the onions and cook another three minutes.  Some of the corn will get charred, which adds flavor.

Add the thawed lima beans and cook another three minutes.  Lightly salt and pepper again.

Add the diced red pepper and cook another minute.  Take it off the heat.

Add the grape tomatoes and basil.  Salt and pepper to taste a final time.  Finish off by squeezing fresh lemon juice over the dish.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!