Last week I made a clean eating, super healthy vegetable dish that was so delicious my mom swears she’s inspired to cook again.  Mind you, I made some other tasty dishes too, but I particularly loved this vegetable dish because of the outrageously fresh ingredients I used.

The dish was inspired by a recipe I saw in Woman’s Day magazine when I was on the treadmill at the gym. As I flipped through the pages, it caught my eye.  And a trip to the farmers’ market to buy some sweet, just-picked corn, heirloom tomatoes and flavorful zucchini and you can already begin to get an idea for why it was so tasty. To me, there’s nothing that’s more of a treat than sweet corn.                     

I gave the dish my own spin by adding fresh basil from my garden and a sprinkle of goat cheese which added just the right amount of tanginess. In the end, it was the perfect summer compliment to our meal.

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini, diced
2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ears corn, kernels sliced off
1 large tomato, preferably locally grown
1 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
1⁄2 cup crumbled goat cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. To help drain the water from the zucchini, place in a colander and set over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt; toss and let stand 20 minutes.

2. Transfer zucchini to a kitchen towel and pat dry before cooking.

3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 3 to 5 minutes until soft.

4. Add zucchini and corn. Saute 6 to 7 minutes until vegetables are almost tender.

5. Add diced tomato; sauté 2 to 3 minutes until softened and zucchini is tender.

6. Add basil and saute for 1 minute.

7. Remove from heat and stir in cheese if desired.

I think you’ll find this dish to be a big hit even with kids.  I added some black beans to it the next day and put it over some quinoa for a slightly different spin.

What are your favorite summertime vegetables to saute? What do you do to keep it simple and practice clean eating?

Filed under: Farmers' market, Healthy Meals, Locally Grown Food, Vegetables, clean eating