GASTRONORMOUS

This was a very simple, and amazingly delicious side dish I made the other night. Okay, full disclosure: I don’t cook from scratch every night. I am often too busy and too tired at the end of the day, so sometimes most of my meal comes from the freezer or a bag or box from the cupboard rather than fresh stuff from my fridge. The other night, the Hubs and I decided to share an Amy’s personal-sized frozen pizza and some leftover gnocchi from a meal out the previous night. I thought we should have a fresh vegetable with it, and when I opened the refrigerator, I was faced with a single ear of corn and a couple of zucchinis from the farmers’ market. So I decided to put them to work—and to simple and delicious effect.

1-2 ears of corn
2 zucchinis
1 tsp olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste

I simply cut the corn off the cob, sliced the zucchini at a slight angle, and threw it all in big sautee pan with the olive oil, garlic, dried rosemary, some salt to taste, and few healthy grinds of black pepper. Once the garlic started to brown, I put in a few splashes of water to deglaze the pan (no, deglazing is not only used to capture in a sauce all the yummy meat bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, it is great technique to keep in mind when cooking vegetables, too!). Adding the water also speeds up the cooking process and allows you to use less oil. I sauteed it all, stirring occasionally for about 8-10 minutes, until the zucchini is tender-crisp.

I used rosemary as the meal had an Italian theme, but this would be delicious with oregano if made as a partner in a Mexican meal.