Print Options

Mom's Summer Squash Recipe

Filed under Low Carb, Quick, Seasonal Favorites: Summer, Side Dish, Vegetable, Vegetarian, Wheat-free

Mom's Summer Squash

Preparation time: 20 minutes.

My mother is the only person I have ever known who can make summer squash taste this good. Often this time of year gardens are overflowing with zucchini and summer squash. This quick and easy recipe is a great way to use up some of the bounty. Note that summer squash varies in tenderness, sometimes you need to cook them a little longer, sometimes a little less.

Print Options

Mom's Summer Squash Recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs squash and/or zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 smallish tomatoes or one large tomato, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive oil
5 or 6 slices of cheese - jack or cheddar
Basil, either dry or chopped fresh
Salt and pepper

Method

1 Put onion, garlic, squash, bell pepper into a large saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put on high heat and brown the vegetables slightly to develop flavor. As you are browning, sprinkle either dried basil or chopped fresh basil on the vegetables. When vegetables are slightly browned, remove from heat, add the slices of cheese, and cover the pan.

2 In a separate stick-free fry pan, put the tomatoes and cook at medium hi heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to let the juice from the tomatoes evaporate some. After 5 minutes, add the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

Never Miss A Recipe!

Enter your email address to subscribe to Simply Recipes: (more details)

Posted by Elise on Aug 22, 2006 and indexed Summer Squash, Zucchini

  • Print (no photos)
  • Print (with photos)
  • Share on Facebook

Comments

One word: yum. And I didn't even follow the recipe as meant to. I burnt the tomatoes (am I the only one that can't cook and talk on the phone?) and forgot the cheese. I'm sure it would be even yummier with those :) !

Posted by: Pink Sun Drops on January 28, 2005 7:18 PM

Hi Elise,
I just made these tonight and loved the combination of flavors. The only problem I had was that in the end it was too soggy. I have very limited experience cooking squash- did I overcook it or what went wrong? Yours look so crisp and good!

Posted by: Irina on August 20, 2006 5:44 PM

Hi Irina - you may have overcooked them. Squash is variable in terms of cooking time. Some are quite tender and cook up quickly, some are tougher and take more time.

Posted by: Elise [TypeKey Profile Page] on August 20, 2006 5:49 PM

One thing you can do to keep squash from getting too squashy is to toss the cut pieces with a coarse salt in a colander. The salt with draw out the water from the squash. After 10 minutes or so, rinse away the salt, pat dry, and it will brown quite nicely.

Posted by: Garen on August 23, 2006 7:46 AM

I'm becoming a pro at 'summer squash' recipes because my plants just won't stop making squash! I make this sauted squash, but I add a 1/2 cup of some spicy italian marinara sauce at the end as well, or use canned 'italian' style tomatoes drained well. Also, make a gratin out of zuchinni and yellow squash by layering in a baking dish with the onions, peppers, garlic, spices, melted butter or margerine and breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake for 35 mins (approximate) at 375.

Posted by: Karen on August 23, 2006 8:38 AM

Made this last night and it was delicious. Wish I could have gotten more browning on the squash, but oh well. The vegetable DID hold up; no mush. Thank you! xoxo

Posted by: mireille on August 24, 2006 9:13 AM

I made a very similar dish the other day. I sauteed summer squash and zucchini with red onion and multi-colored bell pepper in grapeseed oil. Once they were slightly browned, I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and a roasted garlic and sun-dried tomato pesto (about 10 parts basil, 3 parts pine nuts, 3 parts sun-dried tomato, 3 parts parm chs and 1 part roasted garlic) I had thrown together earlier in the day. In the fall, when the squash is firmer and less sweet, I do the same thing but replace the peppers with bias-cut asparagus.

Posted by: Michael on August 26, 2006 9:00 PM

I am going to try this on the grill-wrapped in foil! Looks delicious!

Posted by: kathy on August 29, 2006 1:41 PM

I made Mom's Summer Squash recipe and served it over rice. It is truly great. It tastes Chinese somewhat, but she does not mention when to use the garlic. However, I figured it out. My husband loved it very very much. I did as well.

Thanks,

B. S.

Posted by: BERNICE SMITH on March 31, 2007 7:18 PM

I rasied some summer squash this year and the taste is terribly bland. Rather than throw out the squash, I have looked for recipes that will spruce up the taste. I tried your Mom's Summer Squash recipe and it was great. My neighbor grows the best tasting tomatoes in the world, and he brings me a handfull every week; so I used his tomatoes in the recipe. Well, it was just fantastic. Thanks for helping me find an enjoyable way to eat my home-grown - although practically tasteless - squash.

Posted by: Dwight Turner on July 27, 2007 1:38 PM

I am eating this right now and am loving it! I'm new to living on my own and have been looking for a simple way to make use of all those home-grown vegetables my grandmother has given me! I will have to use this one again to impress Mom!

Posted by: Amber on July 29, 2007 3:11 PM

Hi everyone! I made a version of the Mom's Summer Squash recipe and it was a huge hit at my house. Below is what I did!
Enjoy!
Suzanne

Squash & Zucchini
2 med zucchini, sliced 1/2" or so thick
3 yellow squash, sliced 1/2" or so thick
2 garlic cloves, pressed

dehydrated onions - approx 1 tsp, could use fresh onions, I just didn't have any

6-8 fresh Thai basil leaves from garden
sea salt to taste
black pepper to taste

olive oil to coat veggies lightly & then add a little to bottom of pan so veggies wont stick

I placed above ingredients in oval cast iron dish, cooked on grill beside chicken breast

We also had fresh corn on cob, fresh tomato slices, mac & cheese -

Posted by: Suzanne in TN on August 1, 2007 11:52 AM

This was very tasty! I had to toss in a pinch of crushed red pepper, and instead of doing the slices of cheese, I grated some cheddar on top and let the heat melt it a little. A nice light supper. Thanks!

Posted by: Alycia on August 20, 2007 3:27 PM

Greetings from Finland!
What can I say? Yummy! Found a large yellow squash on the open compost and browsed the net for recipes. Took a good 10 minutes to get the liquid to evaporate before the veggies started browning, so I didn't brown much to not totally overcook them. It was sligthly soggy but d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s on penne pasta!

Posted by: Sami on September 5, 2007 8:39 AM

Post a comment

(Your comment may need to be approved before it will appear on the site. Thanks for waiting. First time commenting? Please review the Comment Policy.)

Link to this recipe

Bookmark this page using the following link: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000054moms_summer_squash.php

Do you have a website? You can place a link to this page by copying and pasting the code below.

<a href="http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000054moms_summer_squash.php">Mom's Summer Squash</a>