caribbean succotash

I often make food my family likes or that I want the kids to eat.  My likes and the family likes do not align.  Apparently at this point my taste buds did not get passed along to either child or my husband eats like a four year old.   The later may be true.  Ideally I like to make one big side at the beginning of the week which is packed with vegetables that I can easily add to my plate for dinner.  I may be one of the few but, I really love succotash.  During the summer there is a large bowl in the refrigerator filled with some variation of succotash.  I love how the creamy beans mix with the crisp vegetable to form this simple, colorful yet flavorful side.  This Caribbean succotash is a little different with the sweet coconut milk and spicy cayenne.  The dish alone is good but, when a splash of bajan hot sauce is added to the succotash it takes it to a new level.  I became hooked on the bajan hot sauce on our trip to Barbados.  It is so hot that it is almost bad but, the heat kept pulling me in.  It is made from scotch bonnet peppers with a mustard and vinegar base.  The first time I had it I put way too much in my mouth because the color lead me to believe it was a sweet mango based salsa.  Not fun to have a mouth full of eggs and hot sauce that is beyond hot at a table of your husbands coworkers.


caribbean succotash 
adapted: bon appetit
 
2 cups fresh or canned butter beans
3/4 cup diced peeled carrots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup diced unpeeled English hothouse cucumber
3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
Large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
 
Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrot, chopped onion, diced zucchini, diced bell pepper, pressed garlic cloves, and minced fresh thyme. Saute until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add corn and diced cucumber; stir 1 minute. Add beans, unsweetened coconut milk, cayenne pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg. Stir until heated through, about 1 minute. Season succotash to taste with salt and pepper.