Love and Cooking

AKA "Soybean Stuff", or "Soybean Schtuff" when I'm under the influence of Mutts (Yesh!).

I first put this together in January of 2003. My twin influences were the succotash recipe in Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking and an article about cooking with soybeans, including succotash, in the then-current issue of Cooking Light. I believe I had tried Colwin's recipe, with mixed results (one of the only disappointments from her book, and I have cooked a lot from it), but a light went on when I read the CL article.

I have made it a lot since. It makes a pile, so I eat it for my lunches all week. It is a substantial dish, and excellent with chicken, beef, salmon, and pasta. (The pasta especially if you have some roasted red bell pepper sauce around.) If you like me are following the old-fashioned and new-fangled practice of eating a colorful plate, it certainly fits the bill all in one (especially if you add a dark green to it).

Normally I think of this as a winter dish, as it makes up very well with frozen and canned stuff. But I was trying to do some deep weather magic as well as making something for my lunches, so I made it on Tuesday night. I decided to time myself this time, and it took about half an hour from start to finish, the last ten minutes or so which did not require my attention. Since it is summer where I am you could use fresh corn.

Soybean Stuff

Ingredients:

About 3 tablespoons olive oil (enough to cover your pan)
1 large or 2 small onions, diced
1 or 2 red or orange bell peppers, diced
1 green bell pepper or some fresh chiles, seeded and diced (I like anchos) (obviously you can make this as hot as you like)
1-2 cloves garlic, diced

1 12 or 16 oz bag shelled edamame (soybeans)
1 12 or 16 oz bag best quality frozen corn (the quality does make a difference)
Note: The bags should be the same weight if you can arrange it
1 14 oz can whole or diced tomatoes in juice (I often use tomatoes and chiles) - if you use whole tomatoes, cut or chop them up.

Spices to taste - salt (1 teaspoon minimum), pepper, and some other seasoning; Colwin says to use ginger, I usually use ancho chile powder or chili powder, at least a tablespoon. This would probably be tasty curried as well. Or you could think Asian with the spicing and garnish the result with a little seaweed (indeed, unfermented soy products such as tofu are often eaten with seaweed in Japanese cooking).

Juice of 1-2 lemons or, better yet, limes

Optional - green beans, fresh or good quality frozen (1 lb or whatever you have), and/or parsley or cilantro, chopped.

What to do with them:

Heat the oil up in a Dutch oven or sturdy pot with a lid. I use my Le Crueset French oven. When it is warm, add the diced onion, and saute for about five minutes. Add the peppers and saute for about five minutes more, stirring often to avoid burning (you might want to reduce the heat at a point). When the peppers and onions look sauteed, put the garlic in for one minute, then mix the chile or curry powder in to toast for a minute or so.

Add the tomatoes and their juice to the pot. You can wash out the can with a little water and add to the pot. Add the frozen edamame, stir, and cover the pot. Add salt and pepper. Cook until beans are done, 8-10 minutes. If you are in the kitchen, give it a stir every couple of minutes.

As I am usually not planning to eat some of this right away, I turn off the heat when I add the green beans (if using) and frozen corn, cover the pot, and let retained heat do the cooking. If you are planning to eat right away and are using the beans, cook them for a couple of minutes after the soybeans are done in the covered pot. In any case, take the pot off the heat and dump the corn in, stir, cover, and let sit for a couple of minutes.

Squeeze limes or lemon in. If you are using parsley or cilantro, add that at serving time.

Made with red, orange, and ancho peppers, no green beans: