Calavacitas for Mandy

This is a little Mexican vegetable side dish in my part of the world.  The calabacita* is a type of squash, but you can also substitute zucchini if you can't find the real thing. Taste and texture, they are almost indistinguishable from each other.  Cook this very slowly. 

*I find the calabacita at Wal-Mart here, and I guess they will also be found in Mexican markets in the SW USA.

 

⅓ cup chopped onion

½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped fine (or green chilies of some other variety)

Smidge of olive oil (maybe 1 TB)

Calavacitas

1 calavacita squash, partially pared and diced

½ cup or so frozen or fresh corn

Salt/pepper/cilantro

⅛ cup milk

⅓ to ½ cup grated co-jack cheese

 

Sauté the onion and jalapeno in the oil for a few moments.  Add the squash.  Mix and cook, covered for a little while. Add the milk, corn, seasonings and herbs and cook a while longer. Add the cheese, and stirring constantly, heat until the cheese melts. Or just cover it, turn off the heat and let it sit for a little while. All in all, this should take 20-30 minutes.  It will be like a little squash "stew."  This will not be "hot" as prepared -- but you can notch up the heat by leaving in a few of the pepper's seeds, or adding some red pepper flakes, etc (or of course you just use the whole pepper).  If using fresh corn, add it earlier so it cooks completely - I used frozen tonight so it didn't need to cook as long. 

This will serve 4 as a side dish.  Tonight, it was a wonderful accompaniment for fish tacos.