UPDATED SOUTHERN SMOTHERED SQUASH

 

SEE BOTTOM FOR UPDATE.

This is one of the first things I cook when my yellow (summer) squash is coming in from the garden.  It is so good and very fattening.  Sorry, this is not a health-conscious recipe but it sure is good.  But then again butter is better for you than margarine.  

It is simple to make but takes time to cook.  Really and truly all you have to do is cut your squash and onions.  Add some butter to a hot pan and let it cook.  It is that simple.  

Start with some yellow squash.  Wash them and dry them.

                                         Cut your squash in slices.

                                           Slice up an onion.

Preheat a pan and add the cold butter.  YES, butter.  Do NOT skimp on this step.  Butter is what makes it good.  Yeah, that might just be a southern thing but you have to have butter for this.  Once the butter has melted add the squash.  I let that cook for a while then I add the onions.  Onions cook quicker so you do not want them overcooked.  Some people cook this with bacon drippings or what you might call bacon fat.  Nope, for me it is butter.  

Me being me, I always add some garlic salt.  I use garlic salt not powder because I do not use any other salt in the recipe.  I love garlic.  You just can not go wrong with garlic.  Of course, this is optional.  This dish is pretty optional.  

SOUTHERN SMOTHERED SQUASH AND ONIONS

Ingredients

• 2 pounds squash sliced into coins
• 1 large Vidalia onion sliced 
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons of EVOO
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or kosher salt
• 1/2 orange bell pepper sliced into thin ribbons and cut in half (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• Add butter to your pan
• Add sliced onions and peppers, saute for 5 minutes
• Add sliced squash and cover.  Cook until Squash is done.  This will depend on your preference for squash doneness.  Yeah, I just made up that word.  In the south people like things cooked till they are almost falling a part.  So your time frame could be 10 to 30.  

Some people also add a pinch of sugar but you do not have to do this.  Especially if you are using Vidalia onions because they are nice and sweet anyway.  

If you really wish for this to be a bit lighter use 1 tablespoon of butter instead of 3 and add olive oil.  

You really want this to cook slowly because you want the squash to stay intact. 

ENJOY!!

This past Friday I made Crab Cakes, fried green tomatoes, and my Southern Smothered Squash for Scott.  Wanted to surprise him with a nice meal.  Also had to make homemade sriracha aioli sauce for dipping.  

Some recipes call for sugar to be added and honestly, when I first started making this I made that mistake.  Yes, you heard me, I made a mistake.  I do that often and if you are smart when you make a mistake, you do not repeat it and you learn from it.  So, I do not use sugar anymore.  Makes this way too sweet for our taste buds here in the Cristina household.  

I had some multi-colored bell peppers because I was gonna make Awesome Pickled Summer Squash.  Since I only needed the red bell for that recipe I had 2 more bell peppers to use.  I had my butter in the pan and the squash and onions cut.  Actually, I even had my onions in the butter sauteing when I decided to add the orange bell pepper.  

All I did was cut half of the pepper in thin ribbons and then cut those in half.  I added them to the onions and finished sauteing. Add the squash and cover with a lid.  When I finished cooking my result was this delicious dish which had created a very yummy nature hint of sweetness with a nice little sauce.