Mexican Calabacitas

Sue Lau's Note:

A nice southweastern vegetable dish- tastes great with the poblano chile. Goes great with many types of mexican food.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil or 1 tablespoon lard
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 4 -6 garlic cloves , minced
• 4 small zucchini , diced
• 1 cup frozen corn , thawed
• 1 ripe tomato , chopped
• 1 -2 poblano chile , seeded and diced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups queso fresco or 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese , shredded

Directions:

1. Heat oil or lard in skillet and cook onions until tender.
2. Add garlic, zucchini, and tomato; cook until veggies are crisp-tender.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. In a large ovenproof casserole, mix together zucchini mixture with chopped poblanos and corn; season with salt.
5. Cover with shredded cheese.
6. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until warmed through and cheese starts to color.
7. For Vegetarian simply use the oil or a vegetable based shortening such as Crisco for the Lard.

Reviews

[The Wallaces]

I enjoyed this very much! I used 2 hatch chiles instead of poblano, and it was great. Used cheddar, but I think next time I will try 1/2 cheddar and 1/2 queso fresco. Thanks for posting!

[Nancy80634]

One of my favorite side dishes - and very flexible. I've used all kinds of summer squash (whatever's ripe or available at the farmers' market). And I seldom finish it off in the oven, settling instead for doing it all on the stove top. I frequently use a chili-based Penzy's seasoning blend instead of the poblano chili. Thanks Sue, for a great starting-off point to guide my cooking. And now, my apologies for reviewing a recipe I didn't follow. My purpose was to encourage others not dismiss it if you're short on an ingredient or time. At least I didn't say "I followed the recipe to a T, except, except, except."

[Zanni]

I made this with recipe 279162 for supper and they complimented each other nicely! This was a great healthy Mexican side dish. I used 1/2 of a poblano because I'm not used to cooking with it and wasn't sure of the heat. Next time I'll definitely use 1 whole chile. I sprinkled some cumin and garlic salt to the mixture while it was sauteeing. This would be great with black beans added to it.