My mother is obsessed with beans. That’s probably where I
caught the bug! When I was a kid she prided herself making soups with
beans. And when I say beans, she liked to use as many kinds as
possible. The more the variety the better, and if she could get up to 5
or 6 different types, she was in bean heaven. This is no joke! Our
kitchen cabinets were filled with chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, navy
beans, black eye, Great Northern and kidney beans.
My Mom’s name is Jean and one Christmas I found the perfect gift
for her. It was a cookbook called “Jean’s Beans.” Imagine the joy
in my heart as I handed her a tome dedicated to the food closest to her
heart. She cooked from that book for months- from the front cover to the
back- using all of the beans that crowded her cabinets.
As you can imagine, beans were an early fixture on our kitchen
table growing up. When all the other kids grumbled at the thought of
eating a lima bean, I thought beans were the way to go! In the summer, Mom was making succotash with freshly
shucked Butter Beans and Sugar Corn from her garden.
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Fresh shelling beans are much easier to cook than dry beans.
There’s no soaking! All you have to do is put the shelled beans in a
saucepan with plenty of water and simmer until tender. In most cases,
they’re done in about 20 minutes.
One of my favorite ways to eat them is simply warmed with your
best virgin olive oil and kosher salt. Or if you’re feeling ambitious,
you might also want to pay tribute to my Mom and make this delicious Summer Succotash Salad...
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| Erin Kunkel Photography |
SUMMER SUCCOTASH SALAD
3 ears fresh sweet corn on the cob,
halved
1 cup fesh shelling beans
Kosher salt
1 pound green string and/or yellow
wax beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
1 medium red bell pepper, ½-inch dice
1 medium zucchini, ½-inch dice
½ red onion, ½-inch dice
2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons torn basil
leaves
Bring
a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add
the corn and simmer, until the kernels turn slightly darker yellow, 5 to 6
minutes. With tongs, remove the corn
from the water and let cool. Cut the
kernels of corn off the cob. Discard the
cobs and reserve the kernels.
Bring
the saucepan of water to a boil again.
Add the fresh shelling beans and simmer until tender, about 25
minutes. Remove with
a slotted spoon and cool.
Bring
the same saucepan of water to a boil. Add
1 teaspoon salt and simmer the string or wax beans and simmer until almost
tender but still very crisp, about 4 minutes.
Add the zucchini and simmer 2 additional minutes. Drain and cool.
Place
the shelling beans, string beans, corn, peppers, zucchini and red onion
in a large bowl.
In
a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and canola oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the dressing and basil to the bean and
corn mixture and stir together. Place
the salad in a large serving bowl and serve.
Serves
6
Recipe from:
Joanne Weir's Cooking Confidence, Dinner Made Simple (Taunton Press, 2012)
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