Fall Succotash, a Unique Thanksgiving Side Dish

There are so many delicious side dishes at Thanksgiving. They really make the meal, in my opinion. As I write this I’m craving cranberry sauce, stuffing, and my caramelized onion gravy smothered all over everything. But, it’s fun to try new dishes and steer away from “traditional” flavors. One new side we’ll be serving this year is a fall succotash.

Succotash is traditionally served with fresh corn and lima beans. Our twist on this classic dish features hominy and edamame.

Hominy, according to Wikipedia,  is produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization (nextamalli is the Nahuatl word for “hominy”). It’s essentially big pillowy chewy “corn” with more bite than traditional kernels. You can find it in one of the canned food aisles in most grocery stores.

This dish is very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 Butternut Squash, peeled and medium diced
• 1 Yellow Onion, small dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can of Hominy, rinsed and drained
• 1 bag frozen shelled Edamame
• a sprig of Thyme
• 1.5 Cup White Wine
• Lemon
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and add the squash, stirring frequently so it doesn’t brown (or burn!).

Add in the onions, garlic, edamame, and thyme and reduce heat to low. Stir occasionally and cook until the squash is tender. Add wine to deglaze the pan and to prevent that squash from burning or browning. We want a vibrant orange in this dish.

Add in the hominy, season with salt, pepper, a little lemon juice, and remove from heat.

Top the dish with a little paprika for pizzazz!

Colorado Olathe Corn Broth

I was listening to a radio show about food while driving and the guest was talking about using the leftover corn husks from her recipe to make broth. I’m a big fan of making homemade veggie stocks but hadn’t ever considered a corn stock. Her recipe was simple: simmer corn husks with onions, two things I just picked up from the market, so I made a point of trying it out on a small batch.

I only had three ears of Olathe corn on hand, so I cut off the kernels for dinner that night and tossed the cobs in some water with local onions and some peppercorns.

After an hour or so I turned it off, let it cool, strained it, and then froze it for future use.

I’m planning repeating this with at least a dozen cobs before corn is out of season so I have something more than just veggie stock to play with this winter.

Rockyford Watermelon Juice Ice Cubes

Summer has been HOT this year. Let’s be honest- it’s not always fun. But locally grown Rockyford watermelon offers me the idea of respite from the heat as I happily remember NJ pool parties with watermelons floating in cold pools to cool off before being cut into. Sean and I have no pool, but we did put a local watermelon in the fridge. Keeping it classy:)

As much as I love the idea of watermelon while at the market, I have a hard time eating the entire thing. So, 1/3 of it got juiced and turned into ice cubes for some fun cocktails and mocktails. Warning: this post is a cocktail.

We recently parted ways with our juicer as it was used >2 times per year, so I just Vitamixed the watermelon with a little water to make juice.

Afeter chugging a glass, the rest was frozen in silicon ice cube trays.

These smaller trays are perfect for freezing individual square of pesto, vegetable broth, and juice.

Now, I’m no bartender, but this patio sipper is delicious! Three watermelon ice cubes, 2 ounces vodka, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime. and a splash of seltzer.

Cheers!

Grilled Peaches and Grilled Watermelon: Yes, it’s dinner.

Peach season is upon us and despite eating them at almost every stop on my food tours with Local Table Tours, I still can’t get enough of them! Palisade peaches and Rocky Ford watermelon are in my house and so they wound up on the grill for a simple dinner of grilled peach and grilled watermelon with massaged (local) kale, quinoa with ancient grains, and toast… but not just any toast- orange zest and honey butter toast. Top it off with a little chevre and you have dinner.

Here’s what I did for this super simple meal-

I cut kale into long, thin strips known as a chiffonade cut, drizzled it with olive oil and sea salt, and massaged it for a couple minutes. Then I set this aside to soften and didn’t come back to it until it was time to eat. On the stove I cooked a quinoa/ancient grain blend according to directions and let that sit to cool to room temperature as well.

Next, I mixed a couple tablespoons of olive oil with a few teaspoons of honey, juice of 1/3 of an orange, and a nice heap of orange zest. I brushed this over the watermelon and peaches before grilling them.

Peaches and watermelon only need to be grilled for a few minutes on each side since they’re delicate and full of water.

The grilling process brings out their sugars and makes them taste a little sweeter, but not too sweet that they can’t be the star of the show on the dinner plate.

While the watermelon and peaches were grilling I mixed a little honey and orange zest with softened butter that I spread over both sides of my bread.

My tiny charcoal grill can only handle so much at a time, so when the watermelon and peaches were done, the bread went on for a few minutes on each side.

The texture of grilled watermelon will fool you into thinking you’re enjoying a steak. Well, not really. But it’s a hell of a lot healthier for you 🙂

Give it a try. Summer isn’t over yet!