Monday, February 15, 2010

Monday Munchies: Summer Stew

Given how chilly it is in New Orleans tonight, it might seem strange to be featuring summer stew for “Monday Munchies,” but since I'm currently immersed in my Moon Florida Keys guide, Dan has kindly offered to take care of today's post – and apparently, he's got summer stew on the brain. So, without further ado, here's Dan's guest post. Oh, and thanks, honey!

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As many of you know, Laura is in the middle of writing a big travel guide to the Florida Keys, so I volunteered to provide the “Monday Munchies” post, and it's a good one... makes me hungry just typing it.
 
This may be called Summer Stew, but it is hearty enough for a cold winter night.

Serves: 4 heaping bowls or 6 regular servings
Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and chopped
2 clove(s) garlic, minced
1 medium/large zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 medium/large yellow summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1/4 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
1 can(s) cannellini or great northern beans, rinsed (see Note)
2 cans diced tomato (drained)
1 tablespoon(s) red-wine vinegar
3/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 lb Ham (diced)
1/2 lb Smoked Sausage (sliced)

Directions:

1.Brown Ham and Sausage. Set aside.

2.Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini, summer squash, oregano, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring once, until the vegetables are tender-crisp, 2 to 4 minutes.

3.Stir in beans, tomatoes, and vinegar; increase heat to medium and cook, stirring, until heated throughout, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in Parmesan.

4.Note: While we love the convenience of canned beans, they tend to be high in sodium. Give them a good rinse before adding to a recipe to rid them of some of their sodium (up to 35 percent) or opt for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. Or, if you have the time, cook your own beans from scratch.

This tastes great on its own, but can be added to rice or pasta.

10 comments:

Angie Ledbetter said...

Yummmmm-mmmmy! Got Mardi Gras recipes at my place today. (BTW - Happy Fat Tuesday!)

Won't bore you with my crashed PC AND "craptop" woes...but could ya send me that Q&A again so my eyeballs don't fry trying to hunt through the bits and pieces of my melted Word doc file remains? ;)

Anita said...

Oh, man...save me some. I'll be there in five minutes. Seriously, this looks good, so I'm impressed with the photography, too...not easy making food look this yumilicious.

dolorah said...

Pick out the onions and I'd eat it. I love stew.

Is Dan willing to come over and cook it for me?

........dhole

Laura Martone said...

Angie - Cool! Yep, Mardi Gras is a good day for eatin', that's fo' sho! Happy Fat Tuesday to you, too!

P.S. I'm sorry that you're still having "craptop" woes... I'm slammed right now with my travel guide, but I'll try to send you the Q&A tomorrow. If I start emailing tonight, I won't stop, and I'm WAY behind!

Laura Martone said...

Anita - I'll tell Dan you said so! It is good stuff, and not too fattening, which is nice. :-)

Donna - One without onions, comin' right up! Maybe I can get Dan to cook for you when we get to California next week - ha!

Becky said...

Yum! Happy Mardi Gras! I bet that would be good with a little pesto stirred in too! We had BBQ shrimp here, New Orleans style.

Laura Martone said...

Thanks, Becky! Happy Mardi Gras to you, too! It's cool that you celebrated the holiday - or, at least, New Orleans - even though you're far away.

Daniel Martone said...

Trick is to try to keep the zucchini and yellow squash firm... not mushy. When I manage that, I love this dish winter, spring, summer, or fall.

If you take out the onion, you could add a diced red pepper... it should be sweet enough not to bite into the overall taste of the dish.

Becky, I think the pesto might be overkill, especially given the amount of parmesan in the dish. That said, this summer I am going to try create a bunch of different pesto-ish dishes. One spinich, one mint, etc.

Deb said...

This sounds so good! Seriously, I could live on soup, salad, and stew. Yum!

Does this mean that Dan is going to start up his cooking blog again? :)

Laura Martone said...

Danny - Well, you'd know the trick, that's for sure - and I know mushy veggies are not your thing. ;-)

Deb - I sure hope he starts it up again soon. But he says no one's tried any of his recipes yet - and then reported back to him. Sniff, sniff.