I had never heard of the dish known as “succotash” until I moved to Georgia. I’m a Washington girl who grew up in an American Italian household. It wasn’t something that ever crossed my radar. One thing I learned about food in the South is you can get tons of plant foods on the table by not being overly fussy. Crowder peas, lima beans and succotash were some of my favorite new finds…just simple food prepared in a simple way.
What I personally love about succotash is the ease of getting a lot of flavor out of a few ingredients. It’s a great way to serve a plant based side any night of the week. And…you can use frozen vegetables. Even better for those busy nights.
Succotash is pretty basic: corn and some variety of shell beans. Some like to add tomatoes or peppers but I enjoy the basic mix cooked briefly with some fresh herbs.
While corn is a starchy carbohydrate that often gets a bad rap of being a filler food, it actually offers some impressive health benefits. Yellow corn is quite high in phytonutrients, especially lutein and zeaxanthin supporting eye health. Corn also provides fiber, specifically a type of fiber that supports healthy bacterial growth in the large intestine. A healthy gut plays a significant part in disease prevention. The Fava beans provide additional health benefits being high in B-Vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Give this quick succotash recipe a try, it takes all of 6 minutes to make and I use all frozen vegetables to make it extra simple. Serve this dish as your grain side and include another vegetable dish.
- 1 cup frozen fava beans, thawed in a colander
- 1 ½ cup frozen corn, thawed in a colander
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
- Heat the olive oil on low heat and cook garlic, careful not to burn it until it is softened.
- Add the vegetables, herbs, salt and pepper until warm, about 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp.
[…] Succotash with Fava Beans by Real Living Nutrition […]