Southwest Succotash

Okay, before I start, let me preface this by saying that I know it's not really succotash if it doesn't have lima beans. If you really want lima beans in it, go ahead and add them, it won't hurt my feelings. I used black beans because I like black beans, and I have tons of them in my pantry.

I'm still on my soft foods diet. Yay, whee, yippy-skippy. Fortunately, hot foods are allowed now. Looking through my fridge and my pantry, I saw a few ingredients that I thought might work, so long as I made them soft. I diced up half a red bell pepper and a whole jalapeno, and started sauteeing them with a little salt and veggie oil in a pan on medium heat. When they were soft, I added half a can of corn and half a can of black beans, both drained. When I made this again the next day, I also ended up adding 1/3 cucumber (should have used zucchini), peeled and diced. I also added a hit or two of Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoon of chile powder. After a couple of minutes, I added 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced, and a tomatillo, also diced. The second time I made it, I ran out of tomatoes, and ended up using two tomatillos. Then I poured in about 1/3 cup of chicken stock and slapped on the lid for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, I uncovered, gave it a stir, and let it cook until the liquid was mostly gone. It only took another minute or so. At this point, it was all soft and ready to eat. The second day, I added some of it to an omelet, and then sprinkled cheese on top of it and the omelet. That worked out pretty well. The name didn't come until after I had cooked it the first time. Succotash is generally composed of lima beans and corn, although there are variations that don't involve corn. I don't suppose a whole lot else is generally added, but hey, I'm a growing dude. And it did end up pretty tasty.