Southern Yellow Squash

There's something wonderful that happens to plain old yellow squash when you give it a slow saute and a good bit of pepper. I've said before that every southern cook knows the secret of finely ground black pepper. Some of the best whole baked chicken I've ever eaten is simply cooked quite high with lots of pepper and salt, basted in its own juices. But that's another blogpost, another day...let us return to the squash at hand.

For two to three smallish squashes I use 1/2 a vidalia onion, sliced thinly, not diced. As for the squash, they need to be fairly thin too and I usually do mine with the Ronco slice-o-matic but feel free to wield a knife or pull out your own mandoline slicer.

When you have an array of lovely yellow disks like this, you're ready to start.

Use a non-stick skillet over low-med heat and hit it with a light spray of Pam or just a bit of olive oil. Go ahead and give it a good salt and peppering now since the salt will help the vegetables give up moisture promptly and keep them from sticking also. This little trick allows you to use minimal to zero cooking fats. Give it a stir every 5-6 minutes just to be sure and in about 15-20 minutes they should look like this:

If you've cut a thicker slice it may take up to 30 minutes for a nice finish. When they are done they should be nicely browned and melt-in-your-mouth tender!









**For the Take Shape for Life lean eaters out there, you can skip the olive oil completely if you're not having the leanest meat for dinner or don't have fat servings left for the day. The squash will still be delish!