Southern cooking: Stewed squash and onions recipe, story behind it, Social Butterfly video

One of my favorite childhood chores was weeding the garden. I didn't mind it a bit, because the harvest provided ingredients for delicious side dishes, entrées, appetizers and desserts.

Years ago, my Chester neighbors, the late Abbie and Ruth Howell, had a huge garden in their back yard. He tended to it, and she prepared meals with the bounty.

One year, I noticed it was past the time that Abbie usually started his annual mission/hobby. The next time I spotted him outside, I inquired as to whether he was going to plant one. Unfortunately, his knees were no longer up to the task. During his nearly 30-year U.S. Navy career, he served in both World War II and the Korean War.

That evening, I asked my husband, at the time, what he thought about us planting and maintaining the garden for the man who fought for our country. He was all for it. Abbie was delighted and borrowed his friend's tractor to till the soil. He even installed a gate on their chain-link fence so we could come and go from our heavily, wooded lot as we pleased.

We planted, weeded, watered and shared the fruits and veggies of our labor with the kind couple. One of Ruth's go-to Southern side dishes was stewed squash and onions. It was delicious!

I asked her for the recipe, and she pointed to her head and said, "It's right here." Soon after, she invited me over to watch her make the super simple Southern classic. Ruth did not measure a thing, so I did my best to guess the measurements of the ingredients. I've made the family favorite so many times that I also store the recipe in my noggin.

Ruth used yellow-colored squash, sraightneck and crookneck. I switch it up a bit and use zucchini, and if I spot my favorite summer squash at a farmers market, I toss the flying saucer-shaped pattypan in as well.

Southern cooking: Stewed squash and onions

INGREDIENTS:

• Summer squash: Zucchini [1 medium-sized], pattypan [2 medium-sized] and yellow straightneck [1 medium-sized]

• Vidalia onion [1 large]

• Butter or margarine [Approx. 3 tablespoons] [FYI... some peeps use bacon grease or olive oil]

• Flour [Approx. 1 tablespoon]

• Pepper to taste

• Sugar to taste

• Weber veggie grill seasoning to taste [Ingredients: salt, chili pepper and other spices, garlic, onion, turbinado sugar, red bell pepper, lemon peel, paprika for color and parsley. Amazon and major grocery stores usually sell it.]

• Water [1 teaspoon]

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Squash: Cut ends and bad spots off, wash, slice into 1/2" slices [Optional: Peel zucchini to give it stripes]

• Vidalia onion: Slice thinly

• In a non-stick stock pot, add a wee bit of water and a dollop of butter. [Dollop equals whatever your taste buds demand] Turn stovetop on medium.

• Layer a third of the squash and onion in the bottom of the pot. Then sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of flour. To taste, add pepper, sugar and Weber veggie grill seasoning [or salt]. Toss in a dollop of butter.

• Repeat the layering step above two more times. Next, stir it, cover it and cut back the temperature to let it simmer until the vegetables reach the level of tenderness you prefer.

Squash produces a lot of water. You can drain it or let the water cook out of it. If you choose the latter, the dish will be mush-like. Personally, I don't opt for either of those methods. As soon as a knife or fork will go through it, I remove it from the burner. I love the broth and serve the side dish in bowls.

If neighbors and friends share their harvest with me, I double, triple or quadruple the recipe and freeze it to enjoy later. To freeze, follow the steps above except only blanch it. I like to store it flat in freezer bags. After it thaws, cook it until it's as tender as love or a sloppy mess.

Read this story at Progress-Index.com to watch me make this yummy Southern side dish. Bon appétit, y'all!

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— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at [email protected], follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Southern stewed squash and onions recipe, story behind it, video