I’m constantly searching for great side dishes. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good entree but, for me, the star of the dinner-time show isn’t always the biggest thing on the plate, and for good reason. The right side dish is like the perfect co-star: it makes the main attraction look good. Or, in the case of food, it makes it taste good.
This succotash is a flavorful, layered compliment to any number of main dishes, is insanely easy to make, and comes together in just one pan. Thanks to corn from a can, there’s no need to pre-cook any of the ingredients other than the bacon (which provides us with our perfectly salty, umami cooking liquid), but if you wanted to really go the whole nine yards here, you could use fresh-cooked corn and I have no doubt the results would be amazing.
I prefer to serve this succotash with scallops, which I sear in a generous amount of butter that could make Julia Child blush…I think the sweetness of the corn and the earthiness of the bacon and mushrooms is the perfect compliment to such a decadent seafood main course, but this stuff is perfectly good served alongside whatever protein you like, and I think its a funky twist on the traditional summer BBQ side, so it would play perfectly as a substitute for potato or macaroni salad at your next backyard shindig. Here’s how it comes together.
Summer Succotash With Corn & Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 slices Bacon {chopped}
- 1.5 cups Shiitake & Cremini mushrooms
- 1 jar pimentos {drained}
- 1 can corn {drained}
- 1/4 cup Fresh basil {chopped}
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
Instructions
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Heat a skillet or pan over medium-high heat and cook chopped bacon until crispy.
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Remove bacon from the pan and set it aside, but leave the drippings in the pan.
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To the bacon drippings, add the mushrooms and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
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Add the pimentos, corn and bacon and heat through. I like to let the corn get just a bit of color here, to mimic the grilled-corn look and taste that is the hallmark of this very summery veggie.
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Remove from the heat and add salt, pepper and basil just before serving Serve immediately.
