Porotos Granados, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Squash

Ever since a dollop of orangeish, textureless goo landed on my plate 35 years ago, accompanied by a lie generations of parents have told their children (Try some, you'll love it!), I've always hated squash.

Until now.

Today I share with you a recipe that is so good, so healthy and so easy to make, that it got me to reject an anti-squash bias that I've held for some 35 years. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

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Porotos Granados
(modified from Jay Solomon's Vegetarian Soup Cuisine)

Ingredients:
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (retain some seeds for extra heat)
2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 Tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 Tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

5 cups water (can add more if soup is too thick)
4 cups squash, any type, cut into large-ish chunks
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 15 ounce can pink beans or kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:
1) In a large pot, saute onions, garlic and jalapeno in the oil for 3-4 minutes on medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and seasonings, reduce heat to medium and saute for another 5 minutes.

2) Add squash and water, bring to a boil, and then simmer on medium low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Add corn and beans, stir well and simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve in bowls over rice or brown rice.

Serves 6.
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Recipe Notes:
1) For the beginner cooks out there, here are two ideas to help you can save on prep time for this recipe: First, while the onions, garlic and jalapenos are sauteing you can chop the tomatoes. Second, you can do some portion of the squash processing (peeling, digging out seeds, or chopping) after you add the tomatoes and spices to the saute mixture.

2) For those of you still not sold on squash, we've also made this stew using potatoes instead of squash. It's delicious that way too. Enjoy!



Related Posts:
Groundnut Stew: A Classic and Exotic Vegetarian Recipe
Quite Possibly the Easiest Lentil Soup Recipe You’ll Find Anywhere
Attention Vegetarians and Vegans! Fresh Corn and Tomato Soup
Why Spices Are a Complete Rip-Off and What You Can Do About It

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