Southwestern Succotash

As a child, I hated butterbeans or lima beans with a passion; as an adult, I find I still can not stand them. As such, I never liked succotash, until I had it at a restaurant in Colorado. They didn’t use the dreaded butterbeans or lima beans and it was a wonderful dish. This my take on a Southwestern succotash.

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced, about a cup of diced onion
• 3 to 6 cloves of minced garlic, depending on how garlicky you like it
• 3 to 5 roasted fire roasted peppers, skins removed and diced
• Tomatoes – 16 ounces of cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters OR 16 ounces of garden ripe tomatoes, diced OR 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 3 ears of fresh corn, kernels cut from the cob and the back of the knife passed over the cob to get the milk from the cob
• 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed
• 3 tablespoons of butter or if vegan, use 3 tablespoons of a vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Penzeys Southwestern spice mix or your favorite Southwestern spice mix
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 to 3 cups of shredded Manchego cheese (optional)

Tools:

Cutting board, chef knife, large cast iron skillet, wooden spoon, cheese grater

Instructions

1. If using cheese, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter in the large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
3. In the butter, sauté diced onion until translucent then add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
4. Stir in the corn and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the roasted pepper and black beans and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the salt and Southwestern spice mix. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or Southwestern spice mix to taste. If you are not using cheese, go to step 7. If you are using cheese, go to step 8.
7. Not using cheese: Cook for another 10 minutes on the stove top and you are done.
8. Using cheese: Turn off the stove. Stir in 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of cheese into the vegetables. Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top of the vegetables.
9. Put the skillet into the over and bake until the cheese on top melts and browns a little bit. This takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

Notes: