Edamame Succotash

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
1 slice center-cut bacon
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped sweet onion
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons torn basil

Directions:
1. Cook bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan; coarsely chop bacon.

2. Increase the heat to medium-high. Melt butter in drippings in pan. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn kernels; sauté for 3 minutes or until lightly charred. Add edamame, and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar and next 5 ingredients (through bell pepper); cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with bacon and basil

Comments:
This was really good. All kinds of flavors and textures, the vinegar gives it a nice zing. It reheats well too, which is important in a two-person household. I admit I doubled the amount of bacon, but Adam still thought it could use more. :-)

Pasta with Edamame and Arugula

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
8 ounces uncooked whole-wheat penne (tube-shaped pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans), thawed
2 cups loosely packed baby arugula
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ounces fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain.

2. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add edamame to pan; cook 2 minutes or until edamame are thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Combine pasta and edamame in a large bowl. Stir in arugula and next 6 ingredients (through salt), tossing well. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Comments:
This was very easy to make - cook pasta, heat edamame, chop tomatoes. But it was gross. Maybe it was the arugula - I didn't think Adam would like it but he wanted to try it. Maybe it was the whole-wheat pasta. I don't know. But we won't make this one again.

Risotto with Spring Vegetables

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
2 cups shelled fava beans (about 1 1/2 pounds unshelled)
1/2 cup fresh green peas
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1 cup uncooked Carnaroli or Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1/2 cup white wine
8 ounces thin asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Cook beans in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Remove tough outer skins from beans; discard skins. Cook peas in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

2. Bring Homemade Chicken Stock to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and carrot to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice and saffron; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup stock; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in fava beans, peas, and asparagus with last addition of stock. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Comments:
I omitted the saffron (tends to be prohibitively expensive) and subbed edamame for the fava beans. I halved the recipe since I didn't want a ton of leftovers, but went kind of heavy on the edamame since I just used up the partial bag I had in the freezer.

Anywho, this was very good. Even without the saffron it had a good blend of flavors and textures. We'd definitely try this one again.

Brown Rice and Edamame

From Recipezaar.com



Ingredients:
3/4 cup long grain brown rice
1 1/4 cups frozen edamame, shelled
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil, toasted
1/2 teaspoon sugar
crushed red pepper flakes
3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a med saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups lightly salted water to boil. Add rice, reduce to a simmer; cover and cook, 30 minutes. Stir in edamame; cover and cook until rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together lime juice, vinegar, oil, red pepper flakes and sugar until sugar is dissolved. With a fork, stir in lime juice mixture and scallions into rice; season with salt and pepper.

Comments:
I was finally able to track down some edamame. None of the grocery stores we usually go to carry it. What's up with that? Anyway, I tried this as my first edamame experience. I think they might have been undercooked, but it was still pretty good. They don't really have a flavor of their own, but the vinegar/sesame/sugar mixture and the scallions helped that along. I'm looking for other recipes for edamame. Let me know if you have a good one.