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Flexible side dish stars zucchini and corn

Recipe: Stir fry is a variation on succotash

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED JUL 26, 2020

Fresh zucchini and corn get some pop from red onion, garlic and basil. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Into every vegetable gardener's life a little zucchini will appear. Or a lot. Even if you don't grow it, you wind up with it anyway -- hey, did someone leave that on the porch?

Zucchini bread, sure, is a great way to use it. (Have you tried making the blog's famous chocolate zucchini bread ?) And grilled, stuffed, etc., all have their place. But the search for more ways to use summer squash is a ubiquitous summer pursuit, so the side dish here is really handy. It also makes great use of fresh corn. Think of it as a modern take on succotash.

I came up with this a few years ago. It's a no-recipe recipe, in that the list of ingredients is just a suggestion. Vary it any way you like, with whatever you grow or find at the farmers market. But this particular version is really, really good.

Note: I included the green beans because I had them. Diced bell or hot pepper is another option. Lima beans aren't on my list of likes, but if fresh ones are available, try those, too.

Onion slice, zucchini, basil and ear of corn

Simple, fresh ingredients make this side dish a winner.

Zucchini-corn side dish

Serves 4 (easily doubled, or more)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 to 1/2 cup diced red onion (from one large slice of of a large onion)

1 8-inch zucchini, trimmed, cut lengthwise into quarters and then sliced thin.

1 clove garlic, minced

1 ear fresh corn, kernels stripped off the cob

1/2 cup green beans, lightly steamed or blanched, optional

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Handful of fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade or torn

Instructions :

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook the red onion for a minute or 2, stirring. Add the zucchini, continuing to stir for a minute or so, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Just a few minutes of stirring are needed.

Reduce heat to medium and add the garlic. After another minute, add the corn kernels, and the green beans, if using. The goal is texture like stir-fry, crisp-cooked without getting too brown.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Just before removing from heat, stir in the basil, saving a leaf or two for garnish. Serve alongside grilled meat and caprese salad.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes summer cooking gardening Sacramento summer vegetables backyard produce produce management zucchini summer squash summer

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Dig In: Garden Checklist

For week of Oct. 1:

Make the most of this cooler weather. Get to work on your fall garden:

* October is the best month to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. Plants become established – sending down deep, strong roots – faster in warm soil.

* Divide and replant perennials. Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal to the planting hole, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered (but not wet) for the first month as they become settled.

* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers directly into the garden, including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.

* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioli, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.

* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.

* Clean up the summer vegetable garden and compost disease-free foliage.

* Harvest pumpkins and winter squash.

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