In order to avoid a second Thanksgiving leftover meal today, I quickly came up with this recipe. It used up some odds and ends in the fridge and pantry, and it was a healthy side to go with our Morningstar Farms Riblets. I normally stir pasta salad in a large bowl, but this saved us the washing of a dish! The egg noodles were a much different noodle than the cellentani I love, but it was a nice change of pace because of the texture and because they collected the olive oil well.

Improv Pasta Salad

The end of a bag of extra wide egg noodles
End of a bag of frozen lima beans
About a cup or so of frozen field peas with snaps
1 can organic garbanzo beans / chickpeas, drained and washed
End of a cube of mozzarella cheese (probably ¼), sliced into tiny cubes
Olive oil

Boil noodles. Boil lima beans and field peas (in separate pots, since they have different cooking times). Drain all three when they are al dente. Put noodles, lima beans, field peas, beans, and cheese in large tupperware. Drizzle with olive oil. Put lid on tupperware. Shake it!!! Shake it!!! Take lid off. Pasta salad is done! Sprinkle with a little kosher salt for extra flavor.

When I saw Emily de Vorsay’s entry over at The Sexy Divorcee Cooks For One, I was immediately intrigued. Though I don’t know anything about succotash and I know even less about lima beans, something about this dish (maybe the corn, maybe the tomatoes) stuck out. Because grocery shopping in Milledgeville can be difficult and I wasn’t able to find all of the ingredients, I had to replace some of her ingredients. I also reduced the bacon, because we only had four pieces of bacon in the fridge. Though I made ingredient modifications, I kept Emily’s directions below with only a few adjustments. In reality, the meal took me a little longer to cook because I wasn’t able to thaw the lima beans or corn in time for dinner, but Emily’s instructions (and occasional taste testing) were enough of a guideline to keep me on track.

I served the succotash as a side with veggie burgers and steak fries. The cilantro and lime flavors really worked together. Since we only used the succotash as a side, we have tons leftover, and I imagine we’ll be eating more with both lunch and dinner tomorrow.

Thufferin’ Thuccotash
(or Rachel’s version of Emily’s Summer Succotash)

10 oz bag frozen lima beans, thawed
10 oz bag frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, diced
¼ tsp. garlic powder
4 slices bacon
Juice of one lime
1 tsp. sugar
1 pinch kosher salt
2 dashes pepper
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove and cook the lima beans until just tender (think “al dente”), about five minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water and set aside.

Meanwhile, combine the lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper and let sit. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Keep the bacon grease in the pan. Cook the onion in the bacon grease until it starts to soften, about a minute. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the corn, tomatoes, and lime-juice mixture. Cook just until the tomatoes begin to lose their firmness. Crumble half the bacon and toss it with the lima beans, and add both to the skillet. Cook until just warmed through and remove from the heat.

Toss with the fresh cilantro and sprinkle the remaining bacon on top.