Sufferin' Succotash

If not for a sample offered by a nice person at Whole Foods, I would have never tried this salad. It is Edamame Succotash. Classic Succotash is a Native American dish usually made with lima/butter beans and corn and served warm. But Whole Foods version really brings it into the 21st century. It is a cold salad made with edamame, corn, dried cranberries, roasted red bell pepper and shiitake mushrooms. But that is not all, my friends: this is one global salad. It is dressed with a spicy mixture of sweet Thai chili sauce, red curry paste and toasted sesame oil. Sounds weird, huh? Yeah, that's how I felt too. But Jeesh, is it good.

So good, that after treating myself to a little, overpriced container for lunch each time I went to Whole Foods, I would say "I've got to make this salad." One thing about the salad at the WF deli is that somedays it was great and other days, not so much. The edamame need to look bright green and fresh looking. If the salad has been sitting in the deli case a few days, the beans take on a sallow, olive color and the flavor really suffers. I even returned a container one day because I swear the beans had started to ferment. (Of course, they were more than gracious about accepting my return.) But this is an even a better reason just to make your own. Dear husband loved this salad and took it for lunch two days in a row. I halved the recipe and we had no trouble finishing off the batch while it was fresh looking. It is a great way to work a nice portion of veggies into your afternoon. It is also a good way to use up leftover cooked corn on the cob (better if it hasn't been buttered and salted.) or best to just cook an extra ear. If you use frozen edamame, you need to blanch them and then shock them in cold water to stop the cooking. I cooked mine for about 4 minutes. The bag said 5, but I think they were tender enough for a salad at 4. Cook them to your taste.

The link to the recipe is above. But it may not work forever. WF changes their recipe offerings all the time; so what is available now, may not be a month from now. I urge you to copy and save it. Then try it - and let me know what you think.