Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Calabacitas

Last summer was a great summer for squash, both yellow and zucchini. We had it coming out of our ears. I think I still have a few cups of shredded zucchini in the freezer from then (it melts into spaghetti for my non-green vegetable eaters). This year--not so much. Our squash was just sad. My mother's was as well (and she's always my back up for when Mike's garden doesn't work so well). So, we've had squash, but infrequently, and really not enough to get tired of it.

That usually means I just cook it the "regular" way, in a pan with some onions. Good, easy, and we like it, but nothing exciting.

And, then, I ran across this recipe for "calabacitas" somewhere. I think that calabacitas is just the Spanish word for squash, and this is just a Mexican inspired take on squash.

You had me at hola.

It starts with a poblano and an onion. This is one of each, finely diced and sauteed in butter. It would be good with roasted poblanos, too, and in a pinch, a can of green chiles.

I used about 5 small squash for our family.
And 2 ears of corn, cut from the cob.
Added the squash to the pan with the pepper and onion, then fried until it was done.
I just added the corn kernels the last 2 or 3 minutes of cooking, to heat through. This was really good, sweet, fresh corn, so it didn't need much.


I served this with a take on one of my mom's classic week night meals--fried squash, pork chops, rice, and brown and serve rolls. For us, that means pork adovado (bought preseasoned at the latino butcher), calabacitas, and tortillas. But, otherwise, just like mom used to make. ~smiles~
This post is linked up to Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday. Lots of people share what they are cooking this week--I always walk away with a great idea. Check it out!

2 comments:

hidden art of homemaking said...

that looks yummy.....from your mamacita..... grinning here

Elizabeth said...

These look good! I top mine with a sprinkle of mexican queso fresco or queso cojita. Great recipe!